Author: islingtonsn

Islington: Man says he was abused in Northampton Park home

Islington Gazette, 23rd February 2024

Exclusive by Charles Thomson, Investigations Reporter

‘Max’ says he was placed in Northampton Park children’s home, Canonbury – but Islington Council appears to have lost his care file (Image: Charles Thomson)

A man calling for support after he was left addicted to drugs after years of abuse in children’s homes found his care records had been lost.

Max – not his real name – says he was placed in two Islington Council children’s homes in the 1990s, where children and staff used drugs and he lived in fear of sexual assault.

But when he applied for his care records to support his bid for a £10,000 payout, the council could not find them.

“This is potentially very serious,” said Dr Liz Davies, of the Islington Survivors Network (ISN).

Councils are supposed to keep the records of looked after children for 75 years.

Dr Davies said she had referred several people with missing or incomplete files to a lawyer to see whether a legal action could be brought.

Islington Council would not comment on Max’s case, but said applicants to the support scheme did not necessarily need their care records.

However, Dr Davies said other applicants whose records were missing or incomplete had been turned down.

‘Children smoked crack’

Max said he was taken into care in 1993 and placed in the former Northampton Park children’s home, near Canonbury station.

He said some staff there openly smoked cannabis and permitted children in their care to smoke cigarettes and other substances.

He was given hashish, he alleged, and witnessed other children using crack cocaine.

The former children’s home at Northampton Park, near Canonbury station, is now private residential building (Image: Charles Thomson)

He was neglected, he claimed, with nobody noticing conditions he was later diagnosed with disorders like dyslexia and ADHD, which impacted his education. He left school with no qualifications.

The home was also rife with rumours of sexual abuse, he said.

“Other kids told me something bad was happening in the home,” said Max. “They said to keep away from certain people.”

At night, he claims, he would put furniture against his door and was frightened to go to sleep.

Heroin addiction

Max said he was later moved to another children’s home and got no help finding accommodation after turning 18.

His adulthood has been marred by heroin addition, which sabotaged his career in IT, and failed relationships. At one point, he lived in a hostel.

Only now he is clean and sober has he joined the dots between his childhood trauma and his destructive drug use.

“I was trying to forget,” he said.

Max, now in his 40s, still lives in north London – but has had a chaotic adulthood, marred by heroin addiction and depression. He is now clean and sober, and wants Islington Council to offer redress for the impact of his alleged childhood abuse (Image: Charles Thomson)

He now has constant pain in the left side of his body, which he believes is linked to his past heroin use.

He also has depression – not helped, he said, by living in a rented studio flat so dilapidated that he can’t use his own bathroom. He has to visit a relative daily to use theirs.

He is on the council’s bidding list for a one-bedroom flat, but several thousand places from the top.

Missing file

After admitting and apologising for decades of abuse in its former children’s homes, Islington Council set up the Support Payment Scheme, offering £10,000 to survivors.

Dr Davies helps survivors obtain their care records and file applications.

The Arrangements for Placement of Children Regulations 1991 say case files should be kept until the looked-after child’s 75th birthday – but Max’s cannot be found.

“It’s important to note that we do not require a care file to be supplied as part of an application for the support payment scheme,” a council spokesperson said.

“We don’t want potential applicants to be dissuaded from applying.”

But Dr Davies said some previous applicants have been rejected under similar circumstances.

Max returned to the former children’s home with the Islington Gazette. He said the £10,000 support payment would help get his life back on track (Image: Charles Thomson)

In January, the Gazette reported on Zara, also not her real name, who was rejected after receiving an incomplete care file.

Like Zara, Dr Davies said Max’s memories – the names of staff and children at Northampton Park, and his descriptions of what happened there – are corroborated by other survivors.

But Zara was still turned down and told to apply to an appeal panel if she wanted to pursue payment.

The same happened to another applicant, Tony Darke, even with a care file.

Whistleblowing former Islington social worker Liz Davies said she had referred the cases of several people with missing files to a lawyer, to see whether legal action could be mounted over the apparent legal breaches (Image: Charles Thomson)

Max’s Dream

If Max received the £10,000, he said, he would first book some private therapy – something he started once before but could not really afford.

“If you want it on the NHS you have to wait forever and you might die before you ever get treated,” he said.

He says he would then invest in some IT training to try to get his career back on track.

“I think the main thing I need is to find a nine-to-five job,” he said. 

“The payment would definitely improve some things in my life. It’s not something that would go to waste.”

Once he is back on his feet, he said, he would like to help other recovering addicts get their lives back on track.

The payment scheme is open to applications until May. Visit www.islingtonsupportpayment.co.uk.

Islington Survivors Network can be reached at 0300 302 0930 or islingtonsn@gmail.com.

Islington Council child abuse scheme faces fresh criticism

Islington Gazette, 15th February 2024

Exclusive by Charles Thomson, Investigations Reporter

Tony Darke, 55, says he applied to Islington Council’s Support Payment Scheme after suffering years of cruel and violent abuse in children’s homes – but has been told he will receive no pay-out unless he wins over an appeal panel (Image: Tony Darke)

A man forced to recount years of painful and humiliating abuse says he feels “kicked in the teeth” after his account was not believed.

Tony Darke has been rejected by Islington Council’s support scheme for abuse victims, despite his account being corroborated by others.

The 55-year-old lived in three children’s homes in the early 1980s, where he says he suffered neglect and “very violent” abuse.

But he says he has been refused financial help on grounds that there is insufficient evidence.

“You spill your guts out, remembering all this stuff you don’t want to remember, revealing all these intimate details, and it’s like you get kicked in the teeth in return,” he said.

Initial applications to the Islington Support Payment Scheme are done in writing – but Tony must now face an appeal panel.

“Now I’ve got to relive the whole thing again, but this time to a load of strangers,” he added.

The council told him months ago that it contact him soon with details – but he said he had heard nothing since.

It is the second time this year that the Islington Gazette has reported on applicants being rejected despite what the Islington Survivors Network (ISN) says is compelling corroboration.

Islington Council said it would not comment on individual cases.

A photo of Tony with one of the friendlier staff members inside one of the homes (Image: Tony Darke)

 ‘A knee in the back’

Tony was placed in care, aged 13, when his mother was deemed not to be coping.

He lived in homes in Conewood Street and Highbury Crescent, then Gisburn House in Hertfordshire.

The violent abuse started at Conewood, he alleged, with what he called “pin-downs”.

“It could be anything that triggered it,” he said. “They didn’t really need a reason. You might just swear, or say something they didn’t agree with.

“Everyone plays up sometimes – we were kids! It might be something like, it’s bedtime and you don’t want to go to bed.

“Two or three of them would basically jump you, wrestle you to the ground and hold you down by your legs, your shoulders, so you literally couldn’t move. It hurt. You’d have a knee in your back or  chest. It was a lot of pressure.

“They only let you up when they decided. They lifted you up with your arms behind your back and took you off to your room.”

Sometimes, said Tony, he was grabbed by the throat.

Others were treated even worse, he claimed. He recalled one child who staff taunted constantly, then attacked if they reacted.

One of the few photos Tony Darke has of himself during his years in Islington Council’s care (Image: Tony Darke)

Self-harm

At Gisburne House, Tony alleged, staff gave cigarettes to children as a means of control.

“Most of the kids in there smoked,” he said.

He said some staff at Gisburne were cruel.

“If you misbehaved you would go without dinner, or get a cold dinner. Or they banned you from going home at weekends to your family,” he claimed.

Staff drove children into the woods in the middle of the night in a Transit van and dumped them there, he said. They were split up and told to find their own way home in the dark.

Files show that by the end of Tony’s time in care, he was “beset by anxiety”, with “no confidence and low self-esteem”, and was self-harming.

One a camping trip, files record that he stuck his feet in the campfire. He bit his fingers until they bled, punched walls and scratched his arms.

He was deemed a potential suicide risk and described as very thin. He was caught shoplifting items to sell so he could buy food.

Dr Liz Davies claimed the Islington Support Payment Scheme was making ‘inconsistent’ decisions, with with some applicants rejected despite having no less proof than others who were approved (Image: Charles Thomson)

 “Ridiculous”

After admitting and apologising for decades of abuse in children’s homes, Islington Council’s Support Payment Scheme opened in 2022, offering £10,000 pay-outs to victims.

Tony applied last spring but received a letter on October 12 – his 55th birthday – saying he would receive no payment due to insufficient evidence. It said he could appeal.

The networl’s Dr Liz Davies described the decision as “ridiculous” and “inconsistent”.

“Tony has no less evidence than others who’ve received payments,” she said.

“Others have described the same sorts of abuse in the same homes, naming the same staff. Lots from Gisburn, for example, describe the night runs in the woods.

“Files prove Tony was in the homes. He names other children who were in the homes with him, some of whom I know have already successfully applied.”

Islington Council said all applications were “treated equally and carefully assessed”, adding: “We do not regard an application as having been ‘rejected’ when in fact it has been referred to the independent appeals panel for further consideration.”

The payment scheme is open to applications until May. Visit www.islingtonsupportpayment.co.uk.

Islington Survivors Network can be reached at 0300 302 0930 or islingtonsn@gmail.com.

Islington Council refuses claim under abuse payment scheme

Islington Gazette, 22nd January 2024

Exclusive by Charles Thomson, Investigations Reporter

Zara – not her real name – says she was abused in this former children’s home – and even has a photograph of herself standing outside. But Islington Council has refused her a payout, saying there is no evidence she was ever there (Image: Charles Thomson)

Islington Council has refused to pay an alleged abuse survivor, claiming there is no evidence she was in one of its children’s homes – even though she has photos and witnesses.

The woman, now in her 50s, says she was neglected in two Islington children’s homes in the 1980s, where children smoked, drank and used drugs with staff members’ knowledge.

When she fell pregnant on their watch, she says the staff then tried to force her to get an abortion.

But when she applied to the Islington Support Payment Scheme, set up to help survivors of widespread abuse in the borough’s children’s homes, the council said there was insufficient evidence Zara – not her real name – had been in their care  

Dr Liz Davies, a whistleblowing former Islington social worker whose decades of campaigning led to the fund’s creation, blasted the “ridiculous” decision. 

Dr Davies, founder of the Islington Survivors Network (ISN), said she help Zara compile and submit her application, which included photos of her inside one children’s home with staff and other residents.

A witness has also told the Islington Gazette that she was Zara’s roommate in one of the children’s homes and had already informed the scheme of this before Zara was rejected.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Annabelle, whose name has also been changed. “She was there. I mentioned her on two different occasions. I mentioned in my application the things we would get up to and how Zara would protect me.

“It’s just crazy. There are other people who know her and know she was there too.”

Annabelle said she was with Zara in two children’s homes: 11-12 Highbury Crescent, then 80 Highbury New Park.

Islington Council would not comment on Zara’s case.

Zara said the stress and upset of having her application refused had left her unable to sleep (Image: Charles Thomson)

Islington Gazette: Zara said the stress and upset of having her application refused had left her unable to sleep

“We are having to spill out all our traumas, only for them to reject us,” said Zara.  

“I had a panic attack and hyperventilated when I found out. It’s traumatising to be subjected to all this – to go back over what’s happened to you, only for them to slap you in the face and still keep insulting you time and time again. It’s upsetting.

“All of this has brought back memories for me. It’s very emotionally draining. I’m waiting for a doctor’s appointment because I’m not sleeping properly. Sometimes I’m sitting in my house and I get very tearful because it’s all resurfacing.

“The most hurtful part is that the proof is all in there. I included photos. They’ve clearly not even looked at my application.”

Dr Davies helped Zara apply for her council records before applying to the scheme, but when they were supplied, said Zara, the contents were “almost completely missing”.

“I was in the homes for four years and my file was about four pages,” she said.

“There was no mention of her being in the children’s homes in her file,” said Dr Davies. “So I knew I really had to prove it.

“I attached photos of her in her room, with the manager, nursing her newborn baby with other residents and even standing outside the front door with the number 80 on it.”

This photograph shows Zara stood outside 80 Highbury New Park, said Dr Liz Davies, and is part of a collection of photos she has of herself at the home, including posing with staff (Image: ISN)

Islington Gazette: This photograph shows Zara stood outside 80 Highbury New Park, said Dr Liz Davies, and is part of a collection of photos she has of herself at the home, including posing with staff

But in December, Zara was told her application had been rejected.

“I wrote to the lawyers straight away and said, ‘There must be a mistake here, I sent you all the photographs’,” said Dr Davies.

“Then I remembered another survivor had mentioned Zara in her own statement and already been paid out.

“So this is a failure on their part, in my view. But instead of pulling back and apologising, they said, ‘We know it’s disappointing but she will soon hear from the appeal panel’.”

“It’s not about the money,” said Zara. “It’s about getting justice for things that people feel like they’ve gotten away with.”

Dr Liz Davies, of the Islington Survivors Network (ISN), helped Zara submit her application and has condemned its rejection (Image: Charles Thomson)

Zara, who was in the homes in the 1980s, said she was still dealing with the consequences.

“It was mainly neglect,” she alleged. “We were left on our own. When you were in a predicament, there was no one there for you.

“Kids would be smoking, drinking, taking drugs. I was afraid of taking drugs so I didn’t do it, but used to drink alcohol. The staff would see us and do nothing. They’d even take us to the pub.

“At the time it seemed great, but it wasn’t. I’m grown now but I still have issues in my life because I didn’t get the guidance I needed when I was young.”

Left to her own devices by the staff, said Zara, she fell pregnant as a teenager.

“They tried to force me to have a termination,” she claimed. “I wanted to have my child but they keep taking me to a clinic in Euston, even though I didn’t want to go.

“I think maybe they wanted me to have a termination because I fell pregnant in their care. It was evidence of their neglect.”

Zara said she would fight against Islington Council’s decision for herself and others (Image: Charles Thomson)

Islington Gazette: Zara said she would fight against Islington Council's decision for herself and othersZara said she would fight against Islington Council’s decision for herself and others (Image: Charles Thomson)

Zara said she would fight against her rejection to inspire others to do the same.

“It’s not right and it’s not fair,” she said. “I don’t see why they should get away with it..

“I’ve always been the one that’s quiet and just expected to take everything on the chin, but I’m not doing that. This life has taught me to be strong.

“There are other people out there far worse off than me and if this is how they’re going to treat them too, it’s not right.”

Islington Council sent a lengthy statement but it did not address Zara’s case. It reiterated the council’s apology for past abuse in its children’s homes and said its support scheme remained open to applications. 

Contact: Islingtonsn@gmail.com for assistance in claiming the Support Payment: Call voicemail 0300 302 0930 @theIslingtonSN

‘Night run’ care home abuse survivors encouraged to help with investigation

Trips involved children being taken to various forests

Islington Tribune, 23rd July 2023

By Izzy Rowley

Dr Liz Davies

AN appeal for abuse survivors who remember “night runs” has been launched.

The Islington Survivors Network (ISN) has called for any survivors of the borough’s care home abuse scandal who remember “night runs”, which took place during the 1970s and 80s, to come forward.

These trips involved children being taken from their care homes and brought to various forests.

The exact purpose of these trips is unclear, but survivors are certain that the night runs were not recreational or fun, with one reporting to ISN that they were “touched inappropriately and sexually by staff who came with us” while being taken horse riding in Epping Forest.

One man, who does not wish to be named, recalled being “frightened and petrified” on a night run when he was about five years old.

He told the Tribune: “To give you a picture, there was a lot of abuse going on in the home – physical, mental, psychological abuse.

“I remember about three trips altogether. We were taken in a van to Epping Forest. I don’t think the people that took us worked in the care home, but whoever they were, they must have had the authority to take us.

“It was daylight when we left, but it was dark when we arrived there. I recently spoke to someone else who was in the same care home and he said he remembered holding my hand the whole time, he wouldn’t let go of it. There were lots of posh cars lined up – it all seemed very organised.”

He added: “I remember being told to shut up and say nothing on the return to the home.”

He said that an investigation into these runs would be a step towards justice for him and other survivors like him. “I would definitely encourage as many people as possible [to come forward]. I think the more that come forward, the more likely it is that it’s going to make any kind of investigation into it that bit easier,” he said.

Survivors from care homes in Highbury Crescent, Grosvenor Avenue, Conewood Street, Elwood Street, Gisburne House, and Copthorne have reported experiencing these runs.

Different forests were visited including Epping Forest, Cassiobury Park, Thetford Forest and the Norfolk Broads.

According to ISN, many of these children were abandoned in the middle of the forest and left to make their own way back to a campsite or a vehicle they were transported there in. Some survivors report fewer children coming back from these runs than went out on them.

Dr Liz Davies, founder of Islington Survivors Network, said: “This is so serious and we hope there will be an investigation from the police and Islington Council.

“This needs to be investigated because it’s a recurring theme from so many survivors from so many different homes.”

An Islington Council spokesperson said: “We strongly support prosecution of any people involved in abuse, and it’s vital for anyone with new information about non-recent abuse to contact police, so allegations or evidence of abuse can be fully investigated.”

After being contacted on Wednesday the Metropolitan Police did not respond in time to give a comment.

• Anyone who has experienced abuse of this kind can report it directly to the police by calling 101 or visiting www.met.police.uk/ro/ocr/how-to-report-a-crime or contact Islington Survivors Network at islingtonsn@gmail.com who will facilitate a report.

Paedophile Met Police officer Paul Lamb dies in prison

Islington Gazette, 19th July 2023

A woman who was sexually abused by an Islington policeman says a series of failures robbed his victims of true justice.

Paedophile Paul Lamb got away with his crimes for decades after his fellow officers dismissed the girl as an “attention-seeker” in the 1970s, she claimed.

Their inaction left him free to abuse more children.

He was only brought to book decades later, in 2021 – but a report has now revealed that he served just one year before dying of pneumonia and cancer.

The report, by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, uncovered “disappointing” shortcomings in Lamb’s medical care.

“I feel cheated,” said Christine (not her real name).

“He didn’t deserve a death sentence. I don’t believe in revenge or capital punishment. But I believe in justice – and he didn’t really serve much time at all for what he did to us.”

Paul Lamb was jailed in May 2021, but died in in May 2022 – just one year into his 17-year sentence (Image: Humberside Police)

As a teenager, Christine was placed in the council’s Sheringham Road children’s home.

That was where she met Lamb, who lived a ten-minute walk away in police accommodation near Pentonville prison.

“He was always in the children’s home,” she said.

After Lamb began abusing her at the age of 13 or 14, she said, she reported him at Caledonian Road police station.

“I was totally ignored,” she claimed. “They said, ‘Get out of here, you’re just being an attention-seeker’.

“I was in a children’s home. We were all seen as scallywags. We were never going to be believed.”

The Met Police Service said it could not comment on this claim “given the time that has passed”.

It added that while Lamb was a Met officer, he was “not on duty” when he met and abused Christine.

The Sheringham Road children’s home has since been demolished, but former child occupants handed Islington Survivors Network these photographs of the front door and the home’s minibus (Image: ISN)

Prosecution

Lamb moved to Yorkshire in the 1980s, where he continued abusing children.

Decades later, Christine approached the Islington Survivors Network (ISN), which helped her report her abuse to the Met again.

Officers discovered Humberside Police were already investigating Lamb over other allegations. The cases were joined.

In May 2021, Lamb, aged 73, was sentenced to 17 years in prison for 19 sex offences, including abusing Christine.

He was sent to HMP Hull.

Christine said the authorities never told her he had died a year later.

‘Christine’ said she reported her abuse by Lamb as a teenager at Caledonian Road police station (since converted into housing), but was ignored and told to go away (Image: Google Streetview)

Shortcomings

Lamb’s partner raised concerns with the Ombudsman that his treatment was “lacking” and there was “damp in his cell”.

It found his care had been “of a variable standard”.

Lamb arrived at prison with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and osteoarthritis, but there was “no evidence” he was offered appointments to monitor those conditions.

He was diagnosed with breast cancer three months later and underwent surgery.

He complained of pain in his chest in early March 2022 and admitted he had not been taking his medication.

He was not sent to hospital until late April, by which time he had shortness of breath and fatigue.

His cancer had returned and spread, but there was “no evidence” the prison held necessary meetings about his care.

He died on May 27, 2022.

A report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman found shortcomings in the healthcare Paul Lamb received at HMP Hull (Image: Google Streetview)

Reaction

The ombudsman did not comment on whether better treatment might have prolonged Lamb’s life.

But it said it had already issued advice to HMP Hull in June 2021 about its management of long-term conditions and use of care plans, following a previous death.

“It is therefore disappointing that these issues are evident in this report,” it wrote.

“For survivors, it was a short sentence for the horrors of what they went through,” said Dr Liz Davies, from ISN.

She said further intelligence about Lamb, from another Islington survivor, had never been criminally investigated.

Christine added: “I don’t want anyone to die – just to serve their time and go home. He should have got that a long time ago, but instead he basically got away with it. I think it’s quite shocking, really.”

City Health Care Partnership (CHCP), which provided health services for HMP Hull, said Lamb’s inquest in April 2023 concluded he had died from natural causes.

“CHCP was not an interested party in this case as we were released from the coroner,” it said.

It is no longer HMP Hull’s health provider.

A prison service spokesperson said: “HMP Hull has accepted and implemented the ombudsman’s recommendations, including improving training for healthcare staff.”

*ISN can be reached on 0300 302 0930 or islingtonsn@gmail.com.

Time running out for child abuse payments

Islington Tribune

Survivors of care homes scandal can apply for £10,000 support sum

Friday, 2nd June — By Anna Lamche

SURVIVORS of Islington’s child abuse scandal only have one year left to apply for a £10,000 support payment, amid warnings the Town Hall could be doing more to widen access to the scheme.

The support payment scheme, which opened in May last year, offers £10,000 to every Islington child who suffered abuse while in care homes during the “worst chapter” of Islington’s history.

As of this week, applicants only have one year left to submit their statements to the scheme before it closes.

According to a council press release published to mark the one-year anniversary of the opening of the scheme, the Town Hall has so far made 155 payments to survivors, totalling £1.535million.

Anyone who was abused in care between 1966 and 1995 can apply. The Town Hall has said it “particularly welcomes more applications from people from black and Asian communities”.

But Islington Survivor’s Network (ISN), an independent group that has long campaigned for justice for the victims of the child abuse scandal, is asking why the council hasn’t done more to advertise the scheme.

Dr Liz Davies, founder of ISN, is calling on the council to do more to advertise the scheme outside of Islington, in places like Bournemouth, Hertfordshire, Stevenage and Harlow, where many Islington children were sent, and survivors are known to have settled.

Dr Davies would also like to see the council working “more collabora­tively” with ISN going forward.

“We were supposed to have regular review meetings. I think we’ve only had one proper review, which came quite late in the day. They’re not involving us on an ongoing basis,” she said.

ISN has worked with survivors over many years, gathering informa­tion on the crimes com­mitted, including precise information on the people involved in the abuse, and the care homes in which the abuse took place.

Dr Davies warned resources are being wasted because the council and ISN often duplicate work, with both services taking statements from survivors. “We’ve met these people, we know their stories,” she said. “We could do it between us.”

According to Dr Davies, ISN has so far worked with 190 survivors to help them submit their applications to the scheme, including help with accessing their case files, filling in forms and supporting them through trauma.

Of those 190 ISN has worked with, some 143 have received support payments so far. But Dr Davies has warned time is running out for some: “We’ve had a few with life-limiting illness… we’ve lost a few people along the way,” she said.

“It’s not what I thought it would be,” Dr Davies said of the scheme.

A spokesperson for Islington Council said it had advertised the scheme in health services, GPs, and housing providers among other places and had featured an article on the scheme in the council magazine.

“There will be further communications promoting the scheme to more communities, both inside and outside Islington, in the coming months,” they said.

https://www.islingtontribune.co.uk/article/time-running-out-for-child-abuse-payments

No way to report historic Islington child abuse to Met Police

EXCLUSIVE Islington Gazette: 2nd March 2023

Exclusive by Charles Thomson Investigations Reporter

No way to report historic Islington child abuse to Met Police

Dr Liz Davies, from the Islington Survivors Network (ISN), said victims victims were struggling to report their abuse to the Met Police (Image: Ken Mears)

The Met Police’s failure to investigate historic child abuse in Islington could lead to vigilante attacks on abusers, a former council whistleblower has warned. 

A support group for survivors has received intelligence on paedophiles who are still alive and may pose a continuing risk, but says it is struggling to report the information to police. 

Dr Liz Davies founded the Islington Survivors Network (ISN) and has helped compile more than 130 applications to a council “support payment scheme”. 

READ MORE:

But she said those trying to report their abuse wanted to see the culprits face justice but were being obstructed by bureaucracy. 

“It will get to a point where if nobody does anything, there are a lot of ex-prisoners in ISN who would stop at nothing,” she said.  

“I don’t want that to happen. That’s not how it should be.” 

No police liaison 

Dr Davies blew the whistle on widespread abuse in Islington’s children’s homes in the early 1990s, while working as a social worker. 

Now an emeritus professor at the London Metropolitan University, she uses her office to help people apply to the council’s payment scheme for victims. 

The Gazette reported last week that intelligence was “pouring out”, with multiple complainants describing similar abuse by the same perpetrators. 

READ MORE:

But, said Dr Davies, her repeated calls for a designated liaison officer to act on the intelligence have gone unheeded. 

She is supported by Islington Council. 

“We strongly support the Met having a single point of contact for abuse allegations relating to Islington’s children’s homes and we are writing to the borough commander in support of this,” a spokesperson said. 

“We strongly expect the Metropolitan Police to fully investigate any new allegations of abuse and to allocate appropriate resources to investigate.” 

Trouble reporting 

“We currently have no police to be in contact with on this at all,” said Dr Davies. 

“Since ISN started, we’ve been put with five different police teams and they’ve all folded up. We were tossed around.” 

She said the latest advice from police had been to call 101 or go to a police station. 

But, she claimed, “I tested 101 with some referrals and it was hopeless. 

“One went to Islington police station and got the same response – that they didn’t have anybody to take a statement. 

“He was devastated as he had taken ages to get the courage to report this crime. 

“He then rang the Islington child protection team. He phoned from my room here and I heard it.” 

Dr Davies said the officer simply replied by expressing his annoyance that he had been contacted directly and asked where the complainant had got his details. 

“We had been given his name by the former team that had just closed down,” said Dr Davies. 

But in light of the officer’s response, the complainant decided not to engage with the police any further. 

Abusers are still alive 

“When the payment scheme started, I was well aware that everybody’s statements would be naming abusers, because that’s part of the scheme,” said Dr Davies. 

The 16-page form applicants are asked to fill out includes a section asking for the names of any abusers. 

Dr Davies said her own research had shown some of the abusers being named were still alive and traceable. 

“We need a liaison officer to have strategy meetings on current risk to children that may be posed,” she said. “It’s basic child protection procedure.” 

The Met did not respond to Dr Davies and Islington Council’s request for a dedicated liaison officer. 

It said complainants should call 101 or report their abuse online. 

“Your information will be passed to a specialist team who will work with you and support you” the force said. 

“You will then receive a single point of contact throughout the investigation. 

“We take all reports of abuse, recent or non-recent, extremely seriously. 

“Specially trained officers will support victim-survivors and we will work to seek justice for them wherever possible.” 

  • ISN can be reached on 0300 302 0930 or by emailing islingtonsn@gmail.com. 

Please help to promote the Council Support Payment Scheme and inform survivors about how to apply. Help distribute our leaflet.

Contact Islington Survivors Network if you want leaflets to distribute. We especially want to cover Islington but also Hertfordshire, Essex and Enfield where some of the 41 children’s homes were. We can post them to you or arrange for you to collect them from our office in Holloway Road.

As yet the council has hardly promoted the scheme at all. We had agreed a plan with the Council Communications Team but this has not been implemented. Please put the leaflets on noticeboards – GP surgeries, hospitals, libraries, supermarkets, cafes, shops, foodbanks, voluntary organisations – wherever you think survivors of abuse will see them. THANK YOU!!! We depend on you to help spread the news of this Scheme. We have already assisted over 180 survivors to make an application and 130 have received the payment. None have been refused. The Scheme will only be in place until May 2024 and the process can take 3-6 months so please help to let survivors know about this as soon as you can. If you have any questions about this please call us 0300 302 0930. This is a voicemail service linked to our email and we will get back to you.

What was the Islington Children’s Homes Abuse Scandal?

Islington Gazette 25th February 2023

By Charles Thomson Investigations Reporter

What was the Islington Children’s Homes Abuse Scandal?

Liz Davies fought for more than 30 years for children she knew were being abused in Islington Council’s care.

The former social worker’s efforts eventually secured an apology and a support scheme, which has already paid out almost £1m.

Here is a timeline of how the scandal unfolded. 

1990 

Liz, a social worker, raises concerns about exploitation of children in homes. 

1991 

Islington’s Area Child Protection Committee rejects her concerns. 

1992 

Liz goes to Scotland Yard but no substantial investigation occurs. 

The Evening Standard newspaper publishes a series of reports suggesting Islington’s children’s homes have been “infiltrated by paedophiles”. 

Whistleblowing staff and children describe drug-dealing, sex trafficking and violence. 

Dr Liz Davies first blew the whistle on abuse in Islington’s care homes in 1990. She is still fighting for the survivors today (Image: Ken Mears)

1995 

A report by Ian White, former president of the Association of Directors of Social Services, and Kate Hart, a former senior manager at Hampshire and Oxfordshire councils, finds Islington Council did not properly investigate allegations against workers.

Claims include: “sexual assaults on other staff, encouraging boys to be rent boys, sexual misconduct with residents, sale of drugs, poor child care, involvement in paedophile rings and child pornography”. 

More than a third of accused staff were not investigated. Others left on health grounds before disciplinary proceedings could progress. 

The report warns that abusers may therefore now be working with children elsewhere with clean records. 

Council bosses, including leader Margaret Hodge, resign. 

The White Report is forwarded to the Metropolitan Police, but no investigation occurs.  

1999 

Islington Council chases up the Met, asking whether the White Report’s findings merit investigation. 

Detective Superintendent Sue Akers says there is “insufficient tangible evidence on which to base an holistic enquiry on the scale that would be necessary”. 

The former Grosvenor Avenue children’s home in Highbury is one of many where abuse reportedly occurred (Image: Ken Mears)

2001 

An internal Met Police report says that since the White Report, the force has investigated “at least five former council employees” over “serious sexual abuse in care homes”. 

“With the exception of [one],” it says “none of these suspects were identified previously, despite being prolific offenders during the period under review. 

“I suggest this tends to cast serious doubts about the thoroughness of the council enquiry.” 

To date, 12 complainants have alleged sexual abuse at Gisburn House, in Watford. 

Multiple staff have been accused from another home (Conewood Street/Park Place, N5). 

Since allegations were made about a third home (1 Elwood Street, Highbury), the report adds, “two suspects have fled the country”. 

There is “a high probability” that a “properly resourced cold case review” would identify new victims and offenders, it concludes. 

2003 

Another internal report questions the Met’s continuing inaction, saying it gives the council “a solid security policy against criticism, in that they have asked police to investigate and police have, thus far at least, declined to do so.” 

“Why did the police make this decision at all?” it asks. “Why was the CPS apparently not involved?” 

Still no major investigation occurs. 

READ MORE:

2016 

Dr Davies, now a professor of social work, launches the Islington Survivors’ Network, prompting many new complainants to come forward. 

Two police officers meet Dr Davies and create a list of 26 alleged abusers. But the investigation is closed down and the Met will not say why. 

The Islington Gazette revealed that Sandy Marks, who oversaw the response to the abuse allegations in the early 1990s, had once been linked to a pro-paedophile activist group (Image: Newsquest)

2017 

The Islington Gazette reports that ex-councillor Sandy Marks, chair of Islington’s Social Services committee when the abuse was unearthed in the early 1990s, was once linked to radical pro-paedophile campaign group “Fallen Angels”.  

She initially admits this, saying she was manipulated, then changes her story, denying the link. 

Lawyers advise the council to consider whether this undermines the White Report. 

READ MORE:

The story is part of a series by the Gazette on survivors’ stories. 

Islington finally admits that, “Children placed in our care were subjected to terrible physical and mental abuse.” 

“It is no exaggeration to say that this was the darkest chapter in the council’s history,” says leader Richard Watts.  

“We are deeply sorry for the council’s past failure to protect vulnerable children.” 

He also apologises to Dr Davies for the way her own concerns were handled and commends the Gazette’s reporting. 

2018 

An inquiry by Sarah Morgan QC finds Mrs Marks was affiliated with Fallen Angels, but there is “no evidence” it “affected [her] later role overseeing children’s services at Islington”. 

The White Report is not critically undermined, she finds. 

Islington Council leader Kaya Comer-Schwartz said the authority could not ‘make amends’, but could take responsibility (Image: Islington Council)

2021 

Islington Council announces the Support Payment Scheme, offering £10,000 payments to survivors. 

Council leader Kaya Comer-Schwartz says: “We know that nothing can make amends for the trauma caused, but it is our responsibility as a council to try to address past failings.” 

The Metropolitan Police would not comment on why it had never fully investigated the Islington scandal, but encouraged anyone wishing to report non-recent abuse to do so by dialling 101 or visiting www.met.police.uk/ro/ocr/how-to-report-a-crime/

Intelligence ‘pours in’ on Islington Council child abusers

EXCLUSIVE

HISTORICAL CHILD ABUSE

Islington Gazette: 25th February 2023

Exclusive by Charles Thomson: Investigations Reporter

Intelligence ‘pours in’ on Islington Council child abusers

Islington Council has paid out almost £1 million in the past ten months to victims of historic abuse in its children’s homes. 

More than 180 complainants have come forward since last May, yielding a wealth of new intelligence about paedophiles who infiltrated the borough’s care system.

The support scheme was launched last year, more than three decades after whistleblowers first reported that Islington’s care system had been “infiltrated by paedophiles”.

“They are pouring it out,” said Dr Liz Davies, who has worked on many of the applications. 

“They’ve been naming abusers. Serious assaults. Sexual assaults. Physical assaults. Crimes.” 

In some cases, Dr Davies said, multiple complainants have named the same alleged abusers. 

READ MORE:

“I’ve done a collation of all the children’s homes,” she explained. 

“So if the police contact me and say somebody’s come forward making allegations about Mr So-and-so, I can say, ‘Ten other people have named him’.  

“Then I can contact all those survivors and say, ‘This officer in this police station is investigating Mr So-and-so’, to see if they would like to speak to them.” 

Survivors 

Dr Davies, an emeritus professor of social work at the London Metropolitan University, first raised the alarm about widespread abuse in the homes in 1990, whilst working as a social worker. 

No large-scale police investigation has ever been mounted. 

The Met Police would not comment for this article as to why.

Dr Davies now co-ordinates the Islington Survivors Network (ISN), a non-profit launched in 2016 to help victims access support, and “collate and publish the history of the Islington child abuse scandal”. 

ISN also aims to help the authorities bring abusers to justice. 

Since launching, it has been contacted by more than 600 complainants, as well as ex-staff offering witness testimony. 

In 2017, the council finally admitted and apologised for the abuse. In 2021, it announced the Islington Support Payment Scheme. 

Support Payments 

The scheme, which opened in May 2022 and closes in May 2024, offers £10,000 payments to anyone abused in any of 42 children’s homes between 1966 and 1995. 

“Abuse may be sexual, physical, emotional or neglect,” according to the 16-page form that applicants must complete. 

The scheme covers 12 homes in Islington, plus other Islington-run homes in London, Essex and Hertfordshire.  

It has received 181 applications. To date, 95 have been approved and paid out. 

“No applications have been rejected,” the council said.  

A number of successful claims will also be taken forward as individual civil suits, said Dr Davies. 

“If they win, the £10,000 will come off the damages,” she explained. 

Excluded 

Three-quarters of all applications so far have been made through ISN, which was instrumental in getting the scheme set up. 

Dr Davies said she had lost some battles, with those abused in foster care excluded from the scheme, as well as those abused in children’s homes before Islington became a London borough in 1965. 

“So there were things that were not just,” she said. 

“But in the end, because of time, we thought, we’ve got to run with what we’ve got now, to get people getting paid – because they’re dying. We’re losing them and they’re not getting the money.” 

Dr Davies said the main issue she was experiencing now was waits of “up to six months” for claimants’ care files to be disclosed, then discovering that they are missing or incomplete. 

The Rules 

“Applicants do not need their childhood care records to apply for the scheme,” the council told the Gazette. 

But the scheme does require “credible information and/or material” supporting a claim. 

In some cases, said Dr Davies, missing files have been overcome by ex-staff providing witness statements confirming that they remember the applicants being in the homes. 

The council confirmed that those still waiting for their care records when the scheme closes will not be excluded, as long as they have already applied for the scheme. 

“All applications submitted before the scheme ends in May 2024 will be processed,” it said. 

The Department for Work and Pensions has agreed that payments under the scheme will not be considered when calculating eligibility for benefits. 

ISN can be reached at http://www.islingtonsurvivors.co.uk: Islingtonsn@gmail.com : 0300 302 0930 They will assist survivors with applying to this Scheme.

The Met Police said anyone wishing to report non-recent abuse should do so by calling 101 or visiting http://www.met.police.uk/ro/ocr/how-to-report-a-crime/

“Your information will be passed to a specialist team who will work with you and support you,” it said.