DOZENS of men who say they were physically and sexually assaulted at an approved school turned children’s home are in line for compensation, The Northern Echo has learnt.

The damages claim could mean a bill running into hundreds of thousands of pounds for Middlesbrough Council, which inherited the liabilities of Stanhope Castle School from the now defunct Teesside County Borough Council and its successor Cleveland County Council.

However some of those involved say they don’t want money and are continuing to press for a public apology.

A North-East law firm has been acting on behalf of about 20 men – a figure which could grow to up to a hundred – and engaged a leading barrister who specialises in child abuse cases to assess the possibility of a successful civil claim through the courts.

He advised that there was a “less than 50 per cent chance” of success because almost all of the perpetrators of the abuse were either dead or could not be traced and the passage of time meant a fair trial would be impossible.

But discussions have been ongoing between the parties in a bid to reach agreements over payouts, while another potential avenue open is claiming from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

One man, who says he was raped repeatedly and made to carry out sex acts while attending Stanhope Castle School in the early 1960s, said: “I don’t want any money, I want people to admit they were wrong and I want a public apology.”

The man, who is bed ridden and suffers from depression, PTSD and fits, said he relived the “pain, disgust and shame” of his experience at Stanhope daily.

Last year Durham Police ruled out criminal action over complaints of historic abuse at Stanhope, although detectives have said one line of enquiry into an alleged sexual assault remains active.

The Northern Echo:

DS Paul Goundry has defended Durham Police's handling of the case

Complainants who have previously spoken to The Northern Echo say they are not satisfied with the recent investigation and fear the abuse has been “swept under the carpet”.

A solicitor for the law firm, who did not want to be named, said: “The Durham Police investigation was always going to be difficult because many of the assailants were deceased. I have no criticism of the police investigation.

“What we are trying to resolve is civil claims and in the best possible way for the victims. It is important to recognise the different burdens of proof in civil and criminal cases. With civil cases someone can be held liable on the balance of probability, whereas in the criminal arena it is beyond reasonable doubt.”

Stanhope was run as an approved school under the control of the Home Office until 1973. When approved schools were abolished it transferred to Teesside County Borough Council and became a community controlled home for children.

However many staff stayed on and the regime remained largely the same. From 1974 until its closure in 1982 it was under the control of Cleveland County Council, with Middlesbrough Council now responsible for the residual liabilities of both the Teesside and Cleveland authorities.

The Northern Echo:

A spokesman for Middlesbrough Council said: “Middlesbrough Council is currently dealing with a number of claims involving allegations of abuse.

“As these involve current or anticipated legal proceedings it would be inappropriate to make any further comment at this stage.”

CASE STUDY

"I believe there has been a cover up and no matter what I will not let this lie."

DAVID, not his real name, got a taste of the punishments handed out to young boys at Stanhope when he tried to abscond one day.

“Like a lot of lads, I didn’t want to be there and one time I legged it. I was caught soon after and taken back to the school and put in a really cold shower,” he says.

“The teacher grabbed a towel and wrapped a bar of carbolic soap within it and started whacking me around the body with it. My ribs were damaged, I could hardly breathe and I was in absolute agony.

“Another time I escaped and was caught, I had rope tied around my wrists and had to strip naked. I was given the cane, about 30 strikes or so. The pain was that bad I must have passed out.”

David, who was at Stanhope in the mid 1970s when it was being run as a children’s home, recalls also being kept in a room where the lightbulb was removed and being made to commit sex acts on a teacher.

He says it had been snowing that day and he managed to reach out of a window in order to grab a few handfuls of snow which he used to clean himself up.

In another incident he had his face slammed against a wall.

“I was talking in the dining room during breakfast one morning,” he says. [The teacher] slapped me across the ear and I thought my ear drum would explode.

“I snapped and went for him and he grabbed me by the back of the head and slammed my face against the wall. He kept doing it and I was left on the floor covered in blood.

“Certain lads were singled out and they got this sort of treatment.”

Now married and living near Stockton, he is receiving counselling.

“As I got older, the things that went on at Stanhope have hit me harder and harder,” he says.

“I started getting nightmares, flashbacks, I have actually wet the bed on a few occasions.

“The treatment many people received was sadistic, brutal. I believe there has been a cover up and no matter what I will not let this lie, I will keep fighting until my breath has gone.

“I want to put pressure on the authorities – the Government, social services so that they hold their hands up and say ‘We got it wrong and we failed these young people who were in our care.’”