£46m Abuse Compensation Paid To Victims Of Lambeth Children’s Homes
This guide is for survivors of the Shirley Oaks children’s home and Lambeth children’s home abuse scandal. This guide contains references to the sexual abuse of children, which some might find disturbing.
Children’s home abuse
A scandal has emerged regarding Shirley Oaks children’s home in Croydon and other children’s homes in the London borough of Lambeth. From the 1930s to the early 1990s, children who were residents of these homes experienced shocking sexual, physical and racial abuse. The exact number of children who were abused is still unknown at the time of writing (July 2020), but Shirley Oaks Survivors Association, a group that represents survivors of abuse at Shirley Oaks children’s home, has been contacted by over 1,760 people and estimates that hundreds of other people who have been abused are yet to come forward or will not come forward.
Lambeth Council has formally recognised the abuse in children’s homes that has taken place and has set up Lambeth Children’s Homes Redress Scheme. The purpose of the scheme is to payout compensation to people who have suffered abuse in children’s homes in Lambeth or have been abused by a foster carer in the borough. As of now, £46 million has already been paid out.
If you are looking for solicitors who are dealing with Lambeth Children’s Homes Redress Scheme, Legal Expert can provide you with a skilled sexual abuse solicitor to handle your claim. Our solicitors are specially trained to deal with sexual abuse claims sensitively and with the care and compassion required. What’s more, they will negotiate on your behalf to ensure you are awarded the maximum amount of compensation you are owed.
Legal Expert offers a free consultation to anyone looking to make a claim for child abuse or sexual abuse. Call us today and one of our advisors will be able to answer any questions you may have. All calls are confidential and our advisors are trained to deal with calls regarding abuse in a caring and professional manner. If we can see that you have legitimate grounds to claim compensation, an experienced sexual abuse lawyer will start working on your claim right away. To begin your claim for children’s home abuse, call us today on 0800 073 8804.
Select A Section
- A Guide To The Lambeth Children’s Home Abuse Scandal
- What Is Children’s Home Abuse?
- What Is The Lambeth Children’s Home Abuse Scandal?
- Investigations Into The Lambeth Children’s Home
- Lambeth Children’s Home Abuse Statistics
- What Is The Lambeth Children’s Home Redress Scheme?
- Lambeth Children’s Homes Compensation Claims Calculator
- Special Damages Awarded In Child Abuse Claims
- No Win No Fee Children’s Home Abuse Compensation Claims
- Why Choose Our Abuse Compensation Solicitors?
- Talk To Our Team Today
- Essential References
A Guide To The Lambeth Children’s Home Abuse Scandal
The number of people who have been abused in Lambeth children’s homes is still unknown, but over 1,340 people have been compensated because they suffered abuse in a care home or while in foster care in the borough of Lambeth. A further 620 applications for compensation are still yet to be reviewed. That so many vulnerable children could be abused under the care of their local authority is an absolute disgrace and Lambeth Council acknowledges that many former children’s homes residents “will never be able to forgive us for their childhood experiences”. Physical abuse, sexual abuse or the rape of a child are some of the most unforgivable crimes a person can commit.
At Legal Expert, we understand that no amount of compensation can make up for having your childhood taken away from you due to abuse. However, by making a Lambeth Redress Scheme claim, you will be holding Lambeth Council accountable for their negligence and encouraging other local authorities to take responsibility for the children in their care. If your sexual abuse compensation claim against Lambeth Council is successful, you will be able to use the funds to pay for counselling to help you come to terms with the horrific abuse you experienced and treat any traumatic injuries you are still suffering from. You will also be able to use the compensation you are awarded to improve your quality of life going forward.
Legal Expert can provide you with a Lambeth Redress Scheme solicitor to handle your claim. They will negotiate hard to win you the maximum amount of compensation you are owed. To begin your claim, call us today for your free consultation, or use our online claims form to reach us.
What Is Children’s Home Abuse?
If a child is no longer able to live with their biological parents, they will be taken into the care of their local authority. The child will sometimes be sent to live in a residential care home, also known as a children’s home. In other instances, they may be fostered or adopted. Local authorities have a duty of care towards children in residential care homes, foster care and being placed for adoption. This means that they are legally responsible for the health and safety of children under their care. Should a child be harmed due to negligence, the Local Authority can be held legally liable for any injuries suffered and may have to pay the child compensation. If the child is under 18, a litigation friend can make a claim on the child’s behalf.
Children in care are often very vulnerable, having lost or have been taken away from their biological families. Unfortunately, malicious people always exist who may wish to exploit the power they have over vulnerable people. In the past, paedophiles have regarded working at a care home as a means of getting access to children that they can exploit. Historically, a lack of background checks and safeguarding strategies means that children were not adequately protected from these predators.
Abuse in a care home can include physical abuse and sexual abuse and such as rape. It can also include emotional abuse, such as making children perform degrading actions or discriminatory treatment such as racism.
Fortunately, in recent years, laws have been passed to better protect children in Local Authority care. The CRB check was introduced in 2002 which allowed employers to conduct background checks on employees that worked with children. This has been replaced with the DBS check in 2013, which allows for more rigorous vetting. The Children Act 2004 also made much-needed updates to the system. Each Local Authority is required to appoint a Director of Children’s Services and a Local Safeguarding Children Board. Anybody that works with children also requires safeguarding to be in place at all times. This means that adults cannot be left alone with children in their care. Despite these advances abuse in children’s homes does still take place.
What Is The Lambeth Children’s Home Abuse Scandal?
The Lambeth children’s home abuse scandal is the uncovering of years of systematic child abuse at Lambeth children’s homes. Much of the abuse happened at Shirley Oaks children’s home, one of the largest children’s homes in the country, as well as other children’s homes in Lambeth.
The extent of abuse that took place was revealed after a survivor’s group, Shirley Oaks Survivors Association (SOSA), was set up to support former residents of Shirley Oaks who were abused there as children. The group was set up by Raymond Stevenson and Lucia Hinton, who are former residents of Shirley Oaks, after Shayne Donnelley, a friend of Stevenson, confided in him in 2014 about the horrific sexual abuse he had suffered when he was a resident of Shirley Oaks.
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper in June 2020, Donnelley described his abuse as “sexual, physical and racial” and reported that when he “was 12, (he) tried to commit suicide”. His three other siblings also reported abuse and his sister also confessed that she was raped when she was 8 years old by a worker, who told her that her mother would be sent to prison if she told anyone. This incident began a two-year cycle of care home abuse for her.
Since Shirley Oaks Survivors Association was set up, the group has been contacted by over 1,600 people who reported that they have received abuse in children’s homes in Lambeth. The reported abuse took place from the 1930s to the mid-1990s. So far the oldest person to receive compensation from the Lambeth Children’s Homes Redress Scheme is in their 90s. 70% of the survivors who contacted SOSA were abused at Shirley Oaks children’s home. They also received reports from people who were abused at smaller Lambeth children’s homes and in foster care. This led the group to set up Lambeth Children’s Homes Survivors, a group to support people who received abuse at smaller children’s homes.
Source: www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jun/25/survivors-tell-of-abuse-shirley-oaks-childrens-home
Investigations Into The Lambeth Children’s Home
There have been multiple investigations into abuse in children’s homes in Lambeth since the 1970s. The longest-running police enquiry was Operation Middleton which found that over a 20 year period, at least 35 men and women were abused as children at a Lambeth children’s home. Figures provided by the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association and Lambeth Children’s Homes Survivors based on reports and testimonies by survivors suggest that the numbers are actually in their hundreds.
An Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) began on 30 June and is suspected to last for four weeks. Evidence will be given of the hideous abuse that was suffered by children at Shirley Oaks and other Lambeth Council-run children’s homes. Evidence will also be given of paedophiles working in roles at the children’s homes, and using the care system as a means to gain access to vulnerable children. In his opening statement to the inquiry, barrister Iain O’Donnell explained that a paedophile ring “infiltrated” Lambeth’s children’s homes during the 1960s and “continued to prey upon the children for decades”. He added that the authorities knew what was happening, but took measures to cover up the abuse.
Sources:
- www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-53237121
- www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-53221981
- www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/cwm184d3v09t/independent-inquiry-into-child-sex-abuse&link_location=live-reporting-story
Whistleblowing Of The Scandal
The Lambeth children’s home abuse scandal has come to light in part because of the brave work that many conducted in whistleblowing the abuse of children. These included a former social worker, a children’s charity worker and disturbingly, a former police officer who claimed that children had been murdered at Shirley Oaks and buried on the grounds.
Lambeth Children’s Home Abuse Statistics
The full extent of the abuse that occurred in Lambeth children’s homes between the 1930s and the 1990s is still not known. However, 1,340 people have been awarded £46m in compensation so far and 620 cases are still to be reviewed. New cases are coming forward daily and there could be hundreds of cases that are yet to come forwards.
Raymond Stephenson estimates that based on testimonials collected by Shirley Oaks Survivors Association and Lambeth Children’s Homes Survivors, 120 paedophiles used Lambeth children’s homes to abuse children over a period of 60 years. According to Stephens, “the council will have to pay out about £80m in the end. That’s the biggest payout this country has ever seen”.
What Is The Lambeth Children’s Home Redress Scheme?
Lambeth Children’s Homes Redress Scheme has been set up by Lambeth Council to compensate people who have suffered historic children’s home abuse due to failings on the part of Lambeth Council. People who were not abused themselves but lived in children’s homes where abuse was taking place and lived in fear of being abused are also eligible to claim compensation. Even if you suffered abuse that happened several decades ago, you may still be eligible to apply.
We recommend that you appoint a Lambeth redress solicitor to represent your compensation claim. Your sexual abuse solicitor will value your claim correctly. They can investigate your case and present evidence on your behalf. Your solicitor will negotiate with Lambeth Council to ensure that you receive the correct amount of compensation for the psychological and physical injuries you endured as a result of the institutional abuse.
Legal Expert’s solicitors could deal with the Lambeth redress scheme on your behalf. Call Legal Expert today for your free consultation. If we can see that you are owed compensation via the scheme, we will assign a solicitor to start working on your claim as soon as possible. The deadline for making an application to the Lambeth Children’s Homes Redress Scheme for compensation is 1st January 2022, so contact Legal Expert as soon as possible to make sure you don’t miss out.
Lambeth Children’s Homes Compensation Claims Calculator
You can use our sexual abuse claims calculator to estimate how much compensation you could be eligible to claim. Of course, every claim is different so for an accurate estimate of how much compensation you could be owed, call Legal Expert for a quote. If you experienced physical, emotional, or racial abuse, or lived in fear of abuse, we can also help you estimate how much compensation you may be owed.
Given Lambeth Council operated the homes in question, it would be possible to pursue a claim against them directly under personal injury law. Below, we’ve included some potentially relevant injuries and their severities. The figures have been taken from a set of guidelines produced by a legal body known as the Judicial College.
| Injury | Severity | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Less severe | £3,710 to £7,680 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Moderate | £7,680 to £21,730 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Severe | £56,180 to £94,470 |
| Psychiatric damage | Less severe | £1,440 to £5,500 |
| Psychiatric damage | Moderate | £5,500 to £17,900 |
| Psychiatric damage | Severe | £51,460 to £108,620 |
It may also be possible to make a claim through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, which compensates people for any harm inflicted as a result of criminal acts. The awards listed below are based on their tariff of injuries.
| Category And Level Of Abuse | Comments On This Abuse | Standard Damages Paid Out |
|---|---|---|
| Minor Sexual Assault – B1 | Sexual acts which are non-penetrative sexual and which take place outside your clothes. | £1,000 |
| Serious Abuse- B3 | Serious abuse of this level could include intermittent instances of being physically abused. The victim may be left with small wounds | £2,000 |
| Serious Sexual Assault – B3 | More serious forms of abuses than the category (B-1) described above in the table. Acts may haave taken place under any clothing. | £2,000 |
| Severe Abuse – B6 | Victims may have experienced a pattern of violent acts resulting in some minor levels of disfigurement. | £5,000 |
| Severe Abuse – B8 | Severe types of abuse but where the abuse has taken place over a period of three years or more. | £8,200 |
| Fatal Criminal Injury – B9 | Damages for fatal criminal injuries. | £11,000 |
This claims calculators only include general damages, which compensates you for the physical and psychological harm inflicted. It does not include any special damages or special expenses you may be able to claim.
For more information on what you could be able to claim and from who, please get in touch with our team of expert advisers today.
Special Damages Awarded In Child Abuse Claims
If you make a successful claim for child abuse compensation, your payout will include two heads of claim. The first will be general damages which will reimburse you for the pain, suffering and loss of amenity you have experienced as a result of the abuse. You will also be able to claim special damages or special expenses (in a CICA claim), which is reimbursement for any costs you incurred as a result of the abuse. This can include funds to pay for any counselling you may be in need of.
To find out more about what types of expenses you can claim, please contact our solicitors on the number at the top of this page.
No Win No Fee Children’s Home Abuse Compensation Claims
If you wish to claim for injuries resulting from the Lambeth children’s home abuse scandal, or any other instance of child abuse, Legal Expert can offer you the option to make a No Win No Fee claim. This means that you will not have to pay an upfront solicitors fee, nor any fees while the case progresses. Instead, you will only have to pay us a success fee if we win your claim. A success fee is a small, legally-capped percentage of the compensation you’re awarded. This means there is less financial risk involved for you.
To learn more about the benefits of making a No Win No Fee claim, call Legal Expert today. Alternatively, read our No Win No Fee claims guide.
Why Choose Our Abuse Compensation Solicitors?
If you are looking for solicitors who are dealing with the Lambeth redress scheme or a sexual abuse solicitor, trust Legal Expert to look after your claim. Our solicitors are trained to handle claims regarding any type of abuse or physical violence with the utmost care and sensitivity. We understand that you were done a terrible wrong and will take pride in helping you claim the compensation that you are rightfully owed.
What can Legal Expert offer you?
- The advice and services of a knowledgeable sexual abuse lawyer.
- A promise that we will value your claim correctly and push to win you the maximum amount of compensation you are owed.
- The option to have your claim handled on a No Win No Fee basis.
Talk To Our Team Today
If you are a survivor of sexual abuse or any other type of abuse in a Lambeth children’s home, you may be owed compensation. Contact Legal Expert today to begin your sexual abuse claim or abuse compensation claim. Call us on 0800 073 8804. Alternatively, email us using our online claims form. We’re looking forward to helping you.
Essential References
Foster Care Abuse Compensation Claims – Our guide to claiming compensation for abuse in foster care
Child Abuse Compensation Claims – Our guide to claiming compensation for abuse as a child.
Historical Sexual Abuse Compensation Claims – Our guide to claiming compensation as the victim of historical sexual abuse.
Guide by Chelache
Edited by Billing
