Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
Man speaks out about abuse after friend takes his own life
‘I WANT TO HELP OTHERS AND GIVE THEM HOPE THEY CAN TURN THINGS AROUND’
A MAN who suffered ‘horrific’ abuse 40 years ago at a children’s home in West London has said he felt ‘lost’ after police told him no one could be prosecuted for the crimes committed decades earlier.
After a five-year fight, David Harris has been awarded compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) and he is now determined to use the money for good.
While living at Grafton Close children’s home in Hounslow during the 1980s, Mr Harris says he was abused by the home’s manager at the time who repeatedly sexually assaulted him and gave him alcohol.
The abuse he suffered as a teenager then led to an alcohol and drug addiction, plus stints in prison.
After turning his life around, he is now 11 years sober and lives in Surrey with his wife and children while working as an outreach support officer helping the homeless.
He told the Local Reporting Democracy Service: “I’ve been quiet for 40 years and part of my recovery is to speak out, if I help one person it would mean the world to me.
“I just want to help others and give them hope that they can turn things around, as hard as it can be. I am living proof and I want to make that crystal clear to others because there is hope. For me, it is not about what happened, over the last five years I have learned that I can’t change the past – and I say that almost in tears – I can’t change it but it’s about moving forward and for me, it’s about helping others.”
The 52-year-old came forward to report the abuse when he was 47-years-old, after reading about his friend, Peter Hatton-Bornshin, who took his own life after he was abused at Grafton Close.
Grafton Close children’s home hit the headlines nearly 10 years ago when two men were arrested following an investigation into a paedophile ring that preyed on Grafton Close boys.
Father Anthony McSweeney, now 75, was jailed for three years in 2015 after being convicted of abusing a 15-year-old while working at the home. He assaulted the boy with his friend John Stingemore, the manager of the care home, who died before the trial in January 2015.
In 1981, Mr Harris was placed in Grafton Close children’s home when he was 11 years old.
He said: “I was street homeless from the age of nine, I used to run away because it was safer on the streets than it was at home.”
However, during his time at Grafton Close, he says he was abused by the home’s manager.
Mr Harris said: “He was a horrible man, and he knew right away that I was vulnerable and he jumped on that. He would also get me drunk and keep me drunk, which was the start of my 34-year alcohol addiction. He was evil and untouchable.
“He knew the system and what he could get away with and if he wanted to take a child out of bed at night, he would.”
Even when Mr Harris returned to his parents, the manager would call for him and take him to his home, sometimes for days on end.
Mr Harris officially left the care system at the age of 17, but when he moved in with an adult man, recommended by Grafton Close staff, he was abused again.
He added: “By the time I left I was already broken. I was drinking and got involved in petty crime and took drugs. I went to prison, and I was in and out of psychiatric wards for years with depression, anxiety and mental breakdowns; there were suicide attempts as well.”
In 2017, Mr Harris reported the abuse he suffered to the police but it has taken five years for him to receive compensation.
After contacting Hudgell Solicitors’ criminal injuries team Mr Harris was initially offered a small, three-figuresum, by the CICA for the abuse he suffered.
Mr Harris said: “That children’s home was a nightmare and I thought offering me that for what I suffered was an insult considering the effect it has had on my life – it ruined it.”
Hudgell Solicitors’ CICA expert, litigation executive Rebecca Pick, applied for the compensation award to be reviewed on behalf of Mr Harris.
An independent medical report was carried out upon the orders of a tribunal judge and Mr Harris was diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
After the appeal, the CICA issued the correct reward of more than 10 times the original sum.
Ms Pick said: “The terrible abuse he suffered as a child has impacted so many areas of his life. Not being able to work because of the effects of mental ill health has a huge effect on my client’s earnings, both in the past and in the future.
“I’m pleased that this has now been recognised because he has suffered a disabling mental health injury which has lasted decades, and at first CICA didn’t take that into account.”
Mr Harris said: “It took a lot for me to come forward after all those years and I’m glad I did. It’s been really difficult, it has been a bit of a battle but it’s not been about the money at all. It has been about the recognition of what I’ve been through and it has been noted, instead of being brushed under the carpet like some cases are.
“It’s still not hit home, I work in the field I work in and it’s never been about the money. The money does not mean anything to me at all, I want to put it to good use.
“My big goal would be to open my own charity, or service, it’s not about living any kind of luxury life.” Despite the damages awarded, the police have informed Mr Harris that no one will be prosecuted due to a lack of evidence and the death of the children’s home manager.
Mr Harris said: “That was really tough, to find out he had died it was like ‘oh he got away with it’.
“I just felt really lost that he would never come to justice. There’s not a lot I can do, but I’ve had the support about how I deal with that.”
Mr Harris has been sober for 11 years, and during his detox, he went to college to study his GCSEs and A Levels.
He said: “My schooling was a complete fail for obvious reasons,
the first thing was to get my English and maths, then got into college and I did a health and social care.”
A shopping trip with his eldest son inspired his career as an outreach support worker.
He said: “I saw a guy begging outside the shop in the freezing cold and it clicked, it was like a wake-up call.
“I just wanted to help that guy, I was lucky enough to get a volunteer job in a homeless hostel which took the guys off the streets and put them through supported housing.
“Now, as an outreach worker I work on the streets and I relate to a lot of the guys, who have all been through a multitude of things.
“I worked right through Covid, I was out there working with the borough and the police to get the guys off the streets. That’s my goal, to get them into either private rented or council, or even emergency accommodation. That’s my job.
“But it’s not about giving people a bunch of keys and saying ‘get on with it’, my role is to help them get the support with anything whether it be physical or mental.
“Then it’s about continuing that support until they are ready for independent living because some guys have never experienced that.
“It’s an important role and I love it, I’m really passionate about what I do. My goal is to continue what I do and off the back of this I want to do public speaking, I want to do as much as I can to raise awareness of this kind of stuff to prove you can turn your life around, despite the horrific time I had as a child.”
Grafton Close children’s home, despite being in Hounslow, was run by Richmond Council.
A spokesperson said: “The Council will always be sorry that children in its care were sexually abused.
“Details of specific events, which happened 40 years ago, were heard in court in 2015 and an individual was convicted.
“The service leadership and management at the time of the crimes were clearly unacceptable. The situation today is completely different. All placements for children in care, whether with foster carers or in specialist children’s homes, are subject to rigorous checks and controls within a statutory regulatory framework and this includes senior social workers who are independent of the child’s worker.”
I’ve been quiet for 40 years and part of my recovery is to speak out, if I help one person it would mean the world to me. David Harris