Patrick Sadd Counsel to Jersey Care Inquiry

Counsel for the Inquiry, Outer Temple’s Patrick Sadd, has been questioning both a former child care officer, and also an ex-staff member of the Haut de la Garenne home.

Danny Wherry was a former Child Care Officer whose job in the 70s and 80s involved visiting youngsters in foster homes and institutions to check on their welfare, and he gave his evidence this week at the Inquiry into historical child abuse, as did ‘Mr K’, a former staff member at the Haut de la Garenne home at the centre of the Inquiry.

Under questioning from Patrick Sadd, Mr Wherry stated he saw cases of neglect, including on one occasion where a door handle had been removed from a child’s bedroom so that the occupant could not escape. He also stated he had been given no formal training for his role and that, at the time, there were few written policies within Children’s Services to guide him in his work.

Earlier in the week, the first staff member of Haut de la Garenne, Mr K, testified, and denied all allegations of abuse levelled against him: Mr K was at the home in the 1970s and 1980s, and had worked alongside Tony and Morag Jordan, who were jailed in 2011 for 16 counts of abuse against children in their care.

Mr K, who had described Morag Jordan in his witness statement as a role model, strongly denied all allegations of abuse put to him at the Inquiry, which included slapping, smacking and touching children inappropriately.

Asked why he thought witnesses were making accusations against him, Mr K said ‘[claiming] compensation and false identity’ were probably the reasons. He also commented that the alleged incidents took place ’40 years ago’ and that he might have been mistaken for another male staff member.

The Inquiry continues.

News 20 Apr, 2015