Police investigate allegations of abuse at children's home

Trevor Bailey, who spent most of his childhood at Burnside House, says he wants compensation, and to see an alleged tormentor brought to justice in return for years of "horse-whipping, beatings and mental torture".

But a police investigation has failed to find the man Mr Bailey claims made his life a misery during his last years at Burnside House, where he lived from 1962 to 1971.

The police would welcome calls from anyone who may have been at Burnside House towards the end of Trevor's time there, and who can back up his claims.

North Yorkshire County Council's Social Services department has been unable to help strengthen Mr Bailey's case because it has lost records pertaining to his period in their care.

But the Craven Herald has obtained a copy of a register from Christ Church School, proving that Trevor and his sister Lynn attended Burnside House.

Current practice is for Social Services to retain a child's file for 75 years after his or her birth.

Mr Bailey's solicitor has been told there are also no records regarding the alleged offender, and an investigation led by Sgt Nigel Sykes has not traced him.

Trevor, who now lives in Bradford, says he is undergoing psychiatric treatment nearly 30 years on and would be in prison now if it wasn't for his wife.

He told the Herald: "I went into Burnside with my sister in 1962, the result of being dumped into care by my father.

"Myself and other children were subjected to a catalogue of abuse, physical and mental, from which I will never recover. There were regular beatings on a grand scale, mostly for nothing at all.

"We were hit with shoes, hands, fists, and then came out the shovel. If you talked in bed you had to get up and go and stand downstairs in a cold, dark passage.

"During the latter years of my stay, the punishment with the cane increased on a regular basis.

"I eventually left in December 1971 when I enlisted in the army under duress from Burnside because there was nowhere else for me to go.

"It doesn't give me any pleasure saying this, but everything that happened has been with me every day of my life and always will be."

Trevor says he has lost touch with his sister, who left Burnside some years before him, fostered out to a family in Craven. But he would be keen to hear from any other ex-Burnside children who may have suffered in the same way he alleges he did.

After serving in the army for 14 years, taking part in five tours of Ulster, he settled in Bradford and decided to pursue his case for peace of mind, prompted by a similar story featuring in a Brighouse newspaper.

Trevor added: "I contacted the NSPCC and they advised me to contact the police and a solicitor.

"I want to see him (the alleged offender) in court and see what he has to say for himself in front of a barrister.

"When I went to find my files in 1995 I knew they (Social Services) would not find them. It's obvious they knew what's been going on.

"I ran away loads of times but the police always managed to pick us up. It was a regime of terror really. You used to lie awake at night and wonder who was next for a beating from the officer in charge.

"I enjoyed school at Aireville because it got me out of Burnside."

Sgt Nigel Sykes, of the North Yorkshire Police Family Protection Unit, said: "There was an inquiry and it's concluded. Mr Bailey made allegations in relation to a particular set of incidents. Our inquiry was into a particular person. But the inquiry can go no further as there is insufficient evidence to take the matter forward.

"The subject of the allegation has not been traced, mainly due to lack of detail about him, like date of birth etc. And until that situation changes the police inquiry cannot be pursued any longer.

"But the investigation could always continue and anyone with relevant information can talk to myself at the Family Protection Unit on (01423) 539354."

Picture by Stephen Garnett.

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