From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Orkney child abuse scandal began on 27
February 1991 when social workers and
police removed some children from their homes on the island South Ronaldsay, in Orkney, Scotland, because of allegations of child abuse. The children denied that any abuse
had occurred, and medical examinations did not reveal any evidence of abuse.
Contents
- 1 Background
- 2 Court case
- 3 Inquiry
- 4 Causes
- 5 2006 documentary
- 6 Victim lawsuit
- 7 See also
- 8 Notes
- 9 References
Background
The father of a family was imprisoned in 1986
shortly after the family's arrival in South Ronaldsay, for child abuse. No
formal child protection proceedings were initiated. After an alarm raised by
officials in a neighbouring authority, sparked by a girl's claim to social
workers and police that ritualistic satanic abuse had taken place,[1] action was taken. Other children were
taken in late 1990, and the two youngest were told that their mother was dead.
Local people began a campaign for the children to be allowed home. It was
repeatedly decided that their welfare could not be assured in the care of their
mother. It took six years before the last of the children was returned to their
mother.[2]
After consultations among police, social workers,
and local officers of the Royal Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children,
and after receiving legal authority from Scotland's most senior sheriff,
pre-dawn raids were made on the houses of the minister and the families who had
assisted his campaign.
Following a community meeting, many of the parents
organized a support group, the South Ronaldsay Parents Action Committee, led by
a local doctor, and assisted by the voluntary organization Parents Against
Injustice (PAIN). The group collected petitions of support that showed
overwhelming scepticism about the charges.[3][4]
Court case
The case came to court in April, and after a single
day the presiding judge, Sheriff David Kelbie,
dismissed the case as fatally flawed and the children were allowed to return
home. The judge criticized the social workers involved, saying that their
handling of the case had been "fundamentally flawed" and he found in
summary that "these proceedings are so fatally flawed as to be
incompetent" and that the children concerned had been separated and
subjected to repeated cross-examinations
almost as if the aim was to force confessions rather than to assist in therapy.
Where two children made similar statements about abuse this appeared to be the
result of "repeated coaching".[4] He added that in his view "There
is no lawful authority for that whatsoever". Sheriff Kelbie also said that
he was unclear what the supposed evidence provided by the social services
proved.[5]
The children were returned by plane to Kirkwall airport on 4 April 1991 where they were
reunited with their parents.
The Reporter appealed against the dismissal of the
case and on 12 June 1991, the Court of Session, sitting as Scotland's premier
civil appeal court, upheld the appeal. It criticised Kelbie's handling of the
case.
The case was remitted back to the sheriff court to
proceed. The Reporter took the view that in the light of factors including the
publicity since Kelbie's decision, the case was severely compromised. The
application was formally abandoned.
The objects seized during the raids were later
returned; they included a videotape of the TV show Blackadder, a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh, and a model aeroplane made by one of
the children from two pieces of wood, which was identified by social workers as
a "wooden cross". The minister was asked to sign for the return of
"three masks, two hoods, one black cloak", but refused to sign until
the inventory was altered to "three nativity masks, two academic hoods,
one priest's robe".
Inquiry
An appeal was later lodged by the Recorder in the
case at the Scottish Appeals Court.
The court upheld the appeal on 12 June on the grounds that the Sheriff had
"allowed himself to form views about the contents [of the social workers'
evidence that] would have made it impossible for him to bring a fair and
balanced judgement to the issues".[6]
The controversy resulted in an official inquiry
established in August 1991, chaired by Lord Clyde.
The inquiry published its report in October 1992. It described the successful
appeal against the first judgement as "most unfortunate" and
criticized all those involved, including the social workers, the police, and
the Orkney Islands Council. Social workers' training, methods, and judgement
were given special condemnation, and the report stated that the concept of
"ritual abuse" was "not only unwarrantable at present but may
affect the objectivity of practitioners and parents".[7]
Causes
Liz McLean, the social worker who led the interviews with the
children, had also been involved in the 1990
Rochdale "Satanic Abuse" case. She was later sharply
criticised by Lord Clyde in the official inquiry into the South Ronaldsay case,
and in another investigation into similar allegations in Ayrshire.[2]
Interviewing techniques
During the investigation the children received
several lengthy interviews. McLean was later described by several of the
children as a terrifying figure who was "fixated on finding satanic
abuse", and other children described how she urged them to draw circles
and faces, presumably as evidence indicating abusive rites.[2] These techniques were strongly
criticised by Sheriff Kelbie.
One of the children later said of the interviews:
In order to get out of a room, after an hour or so
of saying, "No, this never happened", you'd break down.[3]
One of the children later said:
I would never say that a child's testimony in the
company of Liz McLean at the time [is reliable]. She was a very manipulative
woman, and she would write what she wanted to write. I would doubt any child
supposedly making allegations in that situation."
— Interview
with "Karen", 2006[2]
2006 documentary
On 22 August 2006 a documentary on the case
entitled Accused produced by Blast! Films was transmitted by BBC2.
The programme included dramatic reconstructions of some of the interviews
conducted with the children by social workers, and allowed participants in the
affair - including the children - to speak for themselves.[8]
Victim lawsuit
In September 2006 it was announced that one person,
who had been 8 years old when she was taken into care by social workers in
November 1990, intended to sue the council. She said that she had been the
victim of a "witch hunt" by overzealous social workers determined to
break up her family. She said that the interview techniques used at the time
were designed to break the children down, and that she was bribed with sweets
to tell social workers what they wanted to hear.[9]
In February 2008 it was reported that she would
receive legal aid to sue the Council.[10]
See also
Notes
1.
Gall, Charlie (4 April 2011). "Orkney child sex abuse scandal: 20 years since ordeal
that horrified a nation". Daily Record. Retrieved 18 October
2014.
2.
Addley, Esther (21 October 2006). "Interview: Esther Addley meets".
London: The Guardian.
3.
"Orkney
abuse children speak out". BBC News. 22 August 2006. Jenkins,
p. 186
4.
"1991: Orkney 'abuse' children go home".
BBC News "On This Day". 4 April 1991. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
5.
The Independent, "The Orkney Inquiry: 'Reporter' is
central figure in emotional saga", Wednesday, 28 October 1992 Bennett,
p. 287
6.
"Accused - Blast Films". Blast! Films.
7.
"Orkney abuse scandal victim to sue for lost
youth". The Scotsman. 11
September 2006.
8.
Thompson, Tanya (27 February 2008). "Woman wins legal aid to sue over child abuse
scandal". The Scotsman.
References
· Jenkins, David (1992). Intimate Enemies: Moral Panics in Contemporary
Great Britain. Aldine Transaction. p. 186. ISBN 0-202-30436-1.
·
Bennett, Gillian (2005). Bodies: Sex, Violence, Disease, and Death in
Contemporary Legend. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1-57806-789-8.
·
Dr. Reid, David H. S. (1992). Suffer The Little
Children. Napier Press, St. Andrews, Scotland. p. 168. ISBN 1-871479-03-7.
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