Several children's homes and private boarding schools in Scotland failed to provide a safe environment for children, as revealed by reports of abuse.
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I can guarantee you that the abuse suffered by the children who went to an Approved school or to a List D school
was far more extreme
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"for the benefit of readers. Approved or List-D schools were children's prisons.
Often, children were incarcerated in these institutions without committing any crime.
Some of these institutions were places of hideous abuse"
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Why is the Scottish abuse inquiry saving the worst institutions for last?
28th October 2023, the date of writing
Dr Guthrie's schools
have not yet been investigated by the abuse inquiry
I first reported crimes committed against me in 1988. I contacted the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in December 2015.
At the age of eleven, on 4th February 1970, I was sentenced at Hamilton Sheriff Court to one to three years' care and protection.
I did not commit any crime; I was simply accused and found guilty.
I was so small I could hardly see over the dock.
Here is a list of crimes committed against me while I was a pupil at
Dr Guthrie's Boys' School, Liberton, Edinburgh.
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Dr Guthrie's Ragged Schools – Exclusively for the Impoverished
Psychological terror
In 1970, on my first night at Dr Guthrie's Boys' School, the boy next to me in the shower block was completely whipped.
His back, bottom and the backs of his legs were all black, blue, purple and yellow.
A few days after I arrived at Dr Guthrie's, a member of staff slapped my face so hard that the pain went down my body and out of my toes.
In the morning, while I was sleeping, my sheets were often torn off and thrown all over the dormitory
Sexual abuse
I was sexually abused in the swimming pool on several occasions.
I was filmed and photographed naked. I was filmed naked at Thorntonloch campsite.
I was filmed naked at Moneynut Water campsite.
Broken hand
From being hit with a medicine ball. The staff member threw the medicine ball in my direction.
When I raised my hand to protect my face from the ball, the force of the ball broke my hand.
At least five more broken hands
These injuries were caused by being hit on the knuckles with large Victorian keys.
For nine months, one of my hands was always broken, making it impossible for me to eat properly.
Stabbed in the spine with a key
I have had back pain since I was a teenager. I have had severe pain throughout my adult life.
In 2007 I had a CAT scan. The surgeon then showed me the x-ray. She showed me a hole in my spine where the nerve that controls my left arm occasionally falls in.
My left arm and hand are currently semi-paralysed and the hole is the source of the discomfort I experience.
Whipped on the bare backside
I was held over the headmaster's desk and whipped across my bare bottom with a thick yellow Scottish tawse.
General Abuse
I was often punched, kicked, slapped, and head-slammed into another boy's head. I had blood and bruises all over my shins. My head was slammed into walls and I was forced to sniff undiluted ammonia from a bottle.
And finally
No education
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Dr Guthrie's Boys School in Edinburgh was hell on earth
Nobody has been arrested, and I am still awaiting an apology
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFFmhEmEVb8
I spent a few weeks in a remand home before being transferred to Dr Guthrie's Boys' School. I was 11 years old and in a deep state of despair because I had just been taken away from my mother.
This detention centre for children. Calder House Remand Home. Bardykes Road. Blantyre, was an abominable place.
Upon my arrival, I experienced a distressing incident where my clothing was forcibly removed, my hair was pulled, and insecticide for head lice was poured into my mouth. While showering, I suffered an asthma attack and had difficulty breathing.
I was also locked in a cupboard for two weeks, given a razor blade and told to scrape the polish off the tiles on the floor of the cupboard. I was also sexually abused.
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Before 2015, virtually every other country had a child abuse inquiry, with the exception of Scotland. Ireland's abuse inquiry ended in 2009. I waited patiently for justice. When the Scottish child abuse inquiry started, I contacted them immediately. That was in December 2015. I then waited patiently for the police to contact me.
In August 2019, I called the police and asked why they had not contacted me about my abuse complaints. I was told by the police that the abuse inquiry had not contacted them because I was anonymous. In August 2019, the police then told me that someone higher up was dealing with it. The police finally interviewed me in September 2022.
I was told to remain anonymous by the Scottish Abuse Inquiry, who also assured me that they would alert the police. They deceived me; they forced me to go public to seek justice and closure.
After the first interview with the abuse inquiry, I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. It all came back to me. Even the smell of the pool and the abusers were visible to me. It took me two weeks of suffering under a heavy cloud before I was able to collect myself.
After my second interview with the abuse inquiry, my final statement was read out to me. I was advised not to read my abuse statement as it would upset me. I did not read the statement until August 2019, and it was not the same as what was said to me in person. The head lice insecticide poured into my mouth became shampoo. The rest of my statement is watered down and full of so many inaccuracies. I told them not to use it unless it was changed.
How many child abusers were still alive when I first contacted the Scottish Abuse Inquiry? "They say they are all dead now" My request to take legal action against the institutions that abused me has been refused. I am not getting any justice or closure.
Please sign the petition.
We must take a strong stance against the unacceptable mistreatment of children.