Ex-pupils allege 'sexual abuse' (From This is Hampshire)
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Ex-pupils allege 'sexual abuse'
6:00pm Thursday 11th October 2012 in News
By Rachel Masker
Winton House circa 1980.
Hampshire County Council is facing sex abuse compensation claims from former pupils at a Winchester boys' home, it has emerged.
Some 11 men have launched legal action claiming they were raped and beaten as boarders at county-run Winton House, an approved school for boys.
The men accuse some of the male staff and older pupils of sexual and physical abuse in the 1960s and 1970s.
An ex-gardener, Michael Park, was jailed for 12 months in 2004 after being found guilty of indecent assaulting three boys at the former home off Andover Road.
The jailing of Park followed an investigation by Hampshire Police, codenamed Operation Grangewood, in 2001 and 2002. Now further allegations have come to light against eight other members of staff.
The county council has told the men's solicitor there is insufficient evidence to support their claims.
One of the men claiming damages, a former choirboy at the school, said: “I had terrible experiences there. It has literally ruined my life. They had a duty to care for me but they didn't do it.
“The council should have the guts to accept it happened and come to a settlement instead of dragging it out. It will be cheaper for everyone if it doesn't go to court.”
The claimants - aged between 11 and 16 when the alleged abuse happened - are claiming in total about £500,000, including solicitors' fees. Claims include damage for actual assaults, for psychiatric injuries later in life and loss of earnings.
Charles Derham, of Hampshire-based Verisona solicitors, is co-ordinating the men's claims. He said: “I would say that the 11 men who have come forward are the tip of the iceberg. There are probably an awful lot who have decided not to make contact or have blocked out what happened to them or even ended their lives which is not uncommon.”
Mr Derham said the men's lives had been blighted by the sexual and physical abuse they suffered. Two are currently behind bars while others had found it difficult to keep jobs, drifted into crime, suffered relationship problems and confusion about their sexuality. He said: “Winton House was an approved school for boys. It means they had had troubled lives but they had been assessed as needing specialist care. They were sent to the school for a multitude of reasons including suffering abuse at home only to suffer further abuse.
“Some find it difficult to talk about it while others are more open. Some of their families don't even know they are pursuing a claim or about their past.”
Mr Derham said the county council was contesting the historic sex abuse claims on the grounds of lack of evidence and being out-of-time. Courts generally require cases to start within three years of an injury although judges have discretion to hear older cases.
Mr Derham is due to make an application to Winchester County Court for the police to disclose paperwork from Operation Grangewood when they interviewed 116 former pupils.
He said this will help to identify other alleged abusers at the home.
Hampshire County Council was asked to comment for itself and former members of staff but failed to respond.
Daveh1980 says...
11:00am Fri 12 Oct 12
Re: Winton House abuse,
I was sent to Winton House at the age of 14, after a short time there and fearing for my own safety i went on the run just before my 15th birthday and spent a year living on the streets of London, this was 1980 and abuse was rife in Winton house then, staff would physical abuse the children there and always turned a blind eye to sexual abuse received by the older boys and even older girls from the children's home next door (I believe this was know as Red Hatch) i was only in Winton house for a short time but records will show that i absconded within a few months and stayed hidden for over a year until such time as my care order had expired, we as children were left in the trust of people who were nothing more than bullies vile members of society that should never have been trusted in the care authority, they ruined my younger years and put me in a very dangerous and venerable position, i was put into care for non attendance of school this was through being constantly bullied in class , being bullied at school led to my punishment of being abused by adults while in care,
I don't recall the staff names but remember vividly the black gloves the head of the home would put on in front of you before applying what can only be described as torture, the mental cruelty received was enough to make even the strongest of men fear for their well being let alone a small boy, stories of past children being abused were used as a weapon to frighten us, staff got a kick out of seeing us tremble you could see it in their eyes,
I am now a successful manager and thank my family and friends for the man i am today to the local authorities i owe nothing and to the head of Winton house in 1980 i may never get to see you pay for the cruelty you inflicted on us but you will get your comeuppance one day,i am not a religious person but you will get your judgement and i hope it eats at you for as long as it has torn at me,
David H