Cold baths and beatings ruined my life – witness

A man who spent two years in hospital after being subjected to cold baths for wetting his bed in a children’s home has described the institution as a “prison camp”.

Thomas Hagan,

82, was a resident at Quarrier’s Village in Renfrewshire between 1938-52 and said it “ruined” his life.

The late 19th Century development consisted of dozens of orphan homes which were run by a “house mother” and “house father”.

Mr Hagan waived his right to anonymity in a written statement to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI).

He described how his house father would beat him with a leather belt then put him in a cold bath if he wet the bed.

He said the baths would “turn his legs blue” and he thought he could die.

He said: “He did this to me every night because I would wet the bed nearly every night. I would lie in bed scared because he would batter me.”

Mr Hagan said he tried to tell others and he was eventually taken to a nearby sanatorium – aged six or seven – when he collapsed after being pulled from a cold bath.

He returned to Quarriers after lengthy treatment and said he was continually beaten.

The witness remained at the home until 1952.

He said: “At Christmas you would get one present – but they (house parents) would throw the presents into the fire one by one after two weeks.”

The inquiry continues.