Inquiry into centre abuse needed

Medomsley Detention Centre was open from 1963 to 1987, and for a long time operated a ‘short sharp shock’ regime for young males.
The former Medomsley Detention Centre.The former Medomsley Detention Centre.
The former Medomsley Detention Centre.

Many of these teenagers had never been in custody before.

Some arrived having committed their first minor offence – offences which these days probably would not even go to court.

More than 1,600 survivors have now come forward to report abuse in Medomsley – both physical and sexual.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In 2003, Neville Husband was sent to prison for sexually abusing detainees.

Leslie Johnson was also jailed in 2003 for sexual offences.

In recent weeks news broke of five more former employees being convicted of offences in Medomsley Detention Centre.

And there may be more prosecutions to come in due course.

While we welcome the convictions of five employees, the truth is that Medomsley was an institution in which physical and sexual abuse were commonplace.

The convicted men are the tip of an iceberg of others who took part, turned a blind eye or failed to investigate the events of Medomsley.

This constitutes a shocking failure of our prison system.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Because of this we strongly believe that a public inquiry is required to fully investigate the events at Medomsley Detention Centre.

We have recently written to the Home Secretary and the chair of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) calling for a public inquiry capable of investigating the scale of abuse, those directly and indirectly responsible, holding them to account and discovering how such blatant abuse could continue for so long unchecked. We await a response.

Ben Hoare Bell LLP are instructed by more than 400 former inmates.

If you were a detainee at Medomsley Detention Centre and wish to discuss matters, please contact one of our specialist solicitors on 0191 565 3112 or email [email protected]