New probe into horrific abuse at detention centre first exposed by the Mirror
A new investigation has been launched into what authorities knew about large-scale abuse at a detention centre first exposed by the Daily Mirror.
Our revelations in 2013 sparked the biggest ever investigation into a state-fun facility. The criminal investigation into Medomsley Detention Centre in Co Durham uncovered the most prolific sexual predator since Jimmy Savile.
Neville Husband targeted around 300 vulnerable children and young people while working as a cook there, and was believed to be leading a paedophile ring. The fiend, who died in 2010, served time for sex attacks. But many of his victims spoke of a 'cover up' of the wide scale abuse, with more than victims identified from 1961 to the centre's closure in 1987.
Prisons and Probation Ombudsman Adrian Usher and Senior Investigator Richard Tucker launched Operation Deerness, a special investigation looking to find out the truth of 'who knew what and when'. Mr Usher stressed that they were completely independent of any previous police probes. But they are going back through previous cases in the first inquiry of its kind in the UK.
"We are trying to fundamentally identify the answers to the questions of how the abuse went on for so long, and why it was not stopped," he said at a press conference in Newcastle. My office has extensive experience investigating policies and practices that directly impact on the lives and deaths of those held in prison detention.
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Medomsley Detention Centre, County Durham, pictured in 1998 (Mirrorpix)"We want to deliver some level of closure to the survivors of Medomsley. The damage done to them has had life changing effects for so many who suffered wretched abuse."
Richard, a former Met Det Chief Supt with 36 years experience, said some of the 2,000 victims may struggle to trust authority. He told the Mirror: "This is not a reinvestigation. We know there was serious sexual and physical abuse there. This is focussed on what the authorities knew.
"We are independent, and we believe many people have a story to tell, whether it is survivors or staff there." He urged staff who worked there to come forward if they had suspected what was going on, saying for many, it would be a 'final chance' to set the record straight, and learn lessons so that the same mistakes were never made again.
Peter Toole, 59, a taxi driver from Newcastle, was sent to Medomsley in June, 1985, to serve just nine weeks for handling stolen goods, a charge he still denies. Within seconds, a reception gatekeeper was banging his head against a wall. A victim of violent, but not sexual, abuse, he is haunted by his experiences there.
He urged staff to give evidence about what they knew to the new inquiry. "I would love to see them come forward," he added. "There is no doubt that there was a cover up." The original police inquiry launched in 2013, after we told the story of a victim who came forward with then Scottish Labour MP Michael McCann.
As it began, chief Det Supt Paul Goundry told his team: “The Mirror has been absolutely crucial in getting us this far.” Medomsley housed 17 to 21-year-olds, many first-time offenders held for minor crimes. Husband, a cook who took Sunday services there and later became a church minister, attacked boys between 1974 and 1984. There may be hundreds more victims from his 27-year jail career.
In 2019, the Ministry of Justice confirmed it had spent £3.6m settling private claims relating to his sexual abuse. Police investigations since the 1990s have led to the convictions of eight former members of staff. In an open letter to victims, Mr Tucker said they had access to a "large amount of material" relating to the previous inquiries. Anyone with knowledge of the abuse is asked to contact the investigation via this email: [email protected].
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