Victims to sue council over abuse suffered in care home
THE victims of a man who abused young boys at a care home have launched legal action against council chiefs who admitted concerns ‘were not fully heard’.
Brian Newman’s victims first spoke out about the abuse they suffered at his hands in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal.
The former care home worker was jailed in 2015 after being found guilty of a six-year campaign of indecency and sexual assault against six boys at the Ayrshire home during the 1990s.
A report has now revealed numerous problems at the Woodhead Road children’s unit in Coylton, where the abuse took place
‘Too little, too late for our clients’
between 1990 and 1996. An investigation by the South Ayrshire Chief Officers’ Group for Public Protection found that, although Newman’s abuse was reported and investigated, the children’s concerns ‘were not fully heard’.
Other residents at the care home said they did not report the exploitation at the time for fear they would not be believed.
The review, carried out through the independent South Ayrshire Child Protection Committee, found ‘there were missed opportunities to deal with reports of abuse made by a former resident in 2007’.
Although Newman’s behaviour was reported by some children at the time, ‘any action taken did not recognise the significance of these concerns’, according to the report. Committee chairman, Professor Paul Martin, said: ‘While there have been significant changes to modern child protection practices and procedures in the two decades since this abuse took place – providing a better framework overall for the protection of children – the review findings show that agencies can, and must, continue to do better to provide our young people with the best care possible.
‘I will be monitoring further progress closely to ensure that we achieve this and deliver the best possible outcomes for children and young people across South Ayrshire.’
Newman, 58, from Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, was convicted of ten charges of indecency and sexual assault against six boys at the home following a trial at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court. He was jailed for 13 years.
Yesterday Kim Leslie, a lawyer at Digby Brown Solicitors, confirmed several of the victims have launched legal actions against the council. She said: ‘We respect the acknowledgement by South Ayrshire Council that there were failings but it is arguably too little, too late for our clients.’
Paula Godfrey, of South Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, said: ‘There were shortcomings in how staff responded to concerns raised by young people at Woodhead Road children’s unit in the 1990s and for that we are truly sorry.
‘Children’s houses should be a place of safety where children and young people are cared for, nurtured and looked after.’