"Part of a Margaret Thatcher-era policy of hitting low level offenders with a short, sharp shock, violence became an embedded part of a military-style regime which saw boys beaten, strip-searched, humiliated and made to carry out a punishing routine of chores and drills. Hundreds also found themselves subjected to horrific sexual abuse, including in the kitchens, where predator Neville Husband would rape two or three young men a day."
"In a damning new 202-page report almost 40 years after its closure, Adrian Usher, the prisons and probation ombudsman (PPO), found allegations of abuse at Medomsley had reached the ears of government ministers, the police and the Prison Service but were ignored or dismissed. Successive wardens were either complicit or lacked dedication and professional curiosity to such an extent as to not be professionally competent, the ombudsman said."
Medomsley Detention Centre operated on the site of a Victorian former orphanage in Durham from 1961 to 1987 and held men and boys aged 17 to 21. Detainees experienced brutal physical and psychological abuse, often beginning with violence at the prison gates. Violence was institutionalized through a short, sharp shock policy that created a military-style regime of beatings, strip-searches, humiliation and punishing chores and drills. Hundreds suffered horrific sexual abuse, including repeated rapes by Neville Husband in the kitchens. Allegations reached ministers, police and the Prison Service but were ignored or dismissed, allowing abuse to persist for decades. Survivors deserve a public apology.
Read at www.independent.co.uk
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