A lawyer for victims said there was evidence of a ‘Quarriers way’ during the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry
CHILD abuse survivors at a Bridge of Weir home say the scale of attacks is comparable to a “house of horror” where eight people have been prosecuted for 145 criminal offences.
A lawyer for victims at the facility in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, drew similarities with the notorious Haut de la Garenne children’s home in Jersey.
The former Quarriers home in Bridge of Weir
Stuart Gale QC told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry there was evidence of a “Quarriers way” similar to the “Jersey way” of protecting powerful figures and preventing whistle-blowing.
Speaking during closing statements of phase one of the inquiry, he also said survivors are disappointed with the “weasel words” used by some organisations to avoid issuing full, unequivocal apologies for abuse under their care.
More than 20 former residents of Quarriers during the 1970s have complained of abuse.
Gale said Quarriers “continue to underplay the extent of abuse that occurred within the institution and the attendant failures of their systems to prevent abuse.”
Victims have criticised Quarriers and numerous other organisations for the lack of record-keeping at the time of the abuse and possible removal of records in later years.
Mr Gale added: “We cannot understate the further harm caused to survivors by the intimidation of witnesses in the criminal trials and the tactics deployed on behalf of Quarriers in the civil litigations, which were designed to doubt the evidence of those whose abusers had been convicted.”
Quarriers were contacted but could not be reached for comment.
