How did abuse at Berrow Wood school go undetected for four decades?
Nine former members of staff at a school for boys with behavioural difficulties have now been convicted of physically and sexually abusing pupils over four decades. The BBC spoke to 10 survivors of the defunct Berrow Wood School about their ordeals, with questions remaining over how the abuse was able to continue for so long.Boys arriving at the country house deep in the Worcestershire countryside were stripped of their names almost immediately.
First impressions were usually pretty good - timber-clad Berrow Wood was on a quiet country lane, surrounded by fields and woods. James*, number 7, has only recently spoken for the first time about the abuse he faced at the hands of the two men. He is now 66 years old.Darren Ingall, pictured as a teenager with his grandmother, grew up in Guildford
"I even thumbed a lift on the M50," he said. "This guy was in a Jag and I told him I was on a sponsored hitch hike."Abuse was so ingrained in the culture at Berrow Wood that it continued even as staff left and others joined. Morris had his own technique of battering the boys who were as young as 11 - raining down blows while jumping and stamping on them, often in front of the whole class.
For Paul, number 35, the abuse started when he was invited into a staff member's office and told he could improve his behaviour grade. "The quickest thing for social services was to be seen and not heard - pass us off, 70 miles away," said Paul.Ian* also from Wolverhampton, recalled escaping barefooted across fields.
Gorton was found guilty of actual bodily harm against three boys and common assault on two boys. He was jailed for 12 months. After Keith Figes left Berrow Wood having abused countless boys, he went to Badgeworth Court School in Cheltenham in 1973 and repeated his sickening behaviour there.- in which Figes admitted 12 charges of indecent assault - gave him a suspended sentence because he was a "reformed character", sparking anger and disbelief.
Both Darren and Paul's parents wrote to their local authorities highlighting how desperately unhappy their sons were, but nothing was ever done.
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