A POLICE chief yesterday said he would use controversial trawling methods again to find victims of child abuse.

John Scott, Assistant Chief Constable of Northumbria Police, was defending the methods used by his officers in the face of stinging criticism from teachers and carers.

They have accused the force of wrecking their careers and lives after police sought out complaints from ex-care home residents in a £5m inquiry.

The investigation, called Operation Rose, looked into allegations of earlier physical and sexual child abuse. During their inquiry, police sent out 1,800 letters to ex-residents, asking if they had ever experienced any problems while in care.

At a Press conference at Northumbria Police headquarters yesterday, Mr Scott said: "We were very careful that the letters we sent out were not suggestive or leading in any way and that we did not put anything into people's mouths. It was a thorough and professional investigation."

"In many respects, we would conduct the inquiry in the same way, were we to do it again. However, a number of recommendations have been made to establish best practice should any other police force need to conduct similar investigations in the future."

Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Machell said: "As far as trawling goes, we were after witnesses."

Operation Rose was launched in 1997 after a woman in her 20s told a social worker that she and a friend had been sexually and physically abused while in care at a Newcastle care home.

Almost 200 care workers had 530 allegations made against them, but the operation saw only six convictions.

Former teachers Ray Johnston, of Northumberland, and Derek Gordon of Chester-le-Street, County Durham, said they had endured nightmare court ordeals based on "flimsy" evidence and false accusations.

Yesterday, Nicola Reasbeck, Northumbria's chief crown prosecutor, defended the Crown's poor conviction rate.

"I don't accept that any of these cases were taken to court on flimsy evidence," she said.

Detective Chief Inspector Tony Thornton, head of Northumbria Police's child protection unit, said practices had changed since Operation Rose began.

"There's a lot more central guidance from the Government in relation to what all professionals should do once a complaint has been made," he said.

Other recommendations as a result of Operation Rose included considering tape recording all victim interviews, not just children; involvement of Crown Prosecution from the outset; judicial processes to focus on speedy resolution of cases.

Operation Rose: So pathetic - tormentor who made my life hell

STANDING face-to-face with her abuser, Ruth was struck by how small and pathetic he looked.

Christopher Abbott had seemed so much more powerful during the times he systematically abused her while she was a resident of Beaconhill Children's Home in Cramlington, Northumberland.

Case Study: The victim

It was years before Ruth - not her real name - could even admit to herself the degrading sexual abuse Abbott had made her suffer.

But the slow recovery from her nightmare began after January 19, 2000 when she saw her tormentor - a respectable married man to the outside world - jailed for six years.

Ruth, now 33 and the mother of four, grew up in Blyth, Northumberland. With her mother suffering mental health problems, she was taken into care, aged six.

Ruth was 11 when she moved to Beaconhill, and recalls she liked Abbott at first, when he chatted to her.

But the chatting progressed to him asking Ruth and other girls to sit on his knee.

She says quietly: "His hands just started to rub places they shouldn't. I didn't tell anyone. I thought, who's going to believe me?

"Once the abuse started, every time he was about I felt threatened. He used to say no-one will believe you."

The abuse stopped after Ruth ran away, and although she went back to the home, she confronted him and Abbott left her alone.

But the memories of degradation have stayed. Despite counselling, she has seen her marriage break up and she no longer trusts men. She still suffers nightmares.

Abbott was found guilty following Ruth's testimony and evidence logged by a member of staff, who saw him going into a girl's bedroom.