Total of 135 people make compensation claims over care home abuse

Here is the latest breaking news from around the world: 135 abuse claims at home where 'any child likely to face significant harm'1 hour ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleEmma GlasbeyYorkshire home and social affairs correspondentBBCMalcolm Phillips was found unfit to stand trial so a finding of facts hearing took place insteadAn expert report into abuse at a council children's home concluded that any child placed there was "likely to suffer significant harm", a investigation can reveal. Our research has also discovered that 135 people have made compensation claims over allegations of either physical or sexual abuse at the home in Halifax, West Yorkshire, with 14 claims so far settled. The report, which has never been previously fully released, was commissioned into Calderdale Council-run Skircoat Lodge.

Earlier this year, a jury concluded the former home manager, now 93, had sexually abused six children over three decades. He had previously been found guilty in 2001 of sexually abusing eight girls and was jailed for seven years. His former assistant was found guilty of indecently assaulting a boy and facilitating the abuse of another.

The Details

Warning - this report includes details some readers may find distressingThe 1994 report was created by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) after the charity was commissioned to look into what was happening at the home by the local authority after a report of sexual abuse by the home manager. The 190-page document's author uncovered a catalogue of allegations of abuse and neglect. As well as sexual abuse, this included accounts of;Children being denied sleep as a punishmentForced standing where youngsters had to remain in one spot and stare at a wall for hours during the nightA practice known as "walling up" where children would be grabbed by the neck of their clothes and pinned against a wallChildren in bare feet and bed clothes being forced to stand on cold floorsOne youngster having 40 bruises on their body but no welfare check being completedAnother young person attempting to kill themself and then being sent back to schoolA culture of provocation and confrontation among staff to childrenStaff who expressed concern about what was going on being ridiculed and victimisedThe report's author described Skircoat Lodge as "abusive" and "dangerous" and said the positive statements made about the home by some staff indicated "collective collusion with an abusive regime".

West Yorkshire PoliceLinda Brunning worked as Malcolm Phillips' assistant at Skircoat Lodge children's homeFormer manager Malcolm Phillips, who was in charge of the home when it opened in 1976 and was suspended 18 years later in 1994, was deemed not fit to stand trial after being charged in 2025. Phillip, described as a "master manipulator" in court, was given an absolute discharge, with the judge saying she had "no choice". He also received a sexual harm prevention order.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.