Authorities shared offender ‘blacklist’

The authorities kept an early “blacklist” of offenders deemed unsuitable for working with children, Scotland’s child abuse inquiry has heard.

Led by Lady Smith, the inquiry was told the list came into being in the mid 1950s, although an “unofficial” list was in existence prior to that. The inquiry is examining the abuse of children in care.

It heard evidence from Professor Ian Levitt, of University of Central Lancashire, who said the list was used by the Scottish Education Department to circulate the names of staff who had committed an offence. He said: “The name would be submitted to the Teachers’ Superannuation Fund so that if it popped up as employed in any education field, their name would appear and they could be dismissed.”