We have just settled all nineteen claims brought by former residents of the Children’s Cottages Homes. This was an institution owned and run by the former Portsmouth Corporation at Cosham. It housed children of all ages who were essentially homeless because of bereavement, illness, marital breakdown, and quite often because the parents could not cope with their large families.

All nineteen claimed that they had been abused in care. Their allegations went back to the 1940’s to 60’s and were concerned with physical, sexual and emotional abuse and neglect.

Some of the children were fostered out to families in Portsmouth, and the allegations and accounts are such that they often fared no better than those  who were left behind in the home.

All nineteen victims and their witnesses painted a tragic picture of abuse and neglect at the hands of some of the staff employed at the home and their foster carers. Many ran away and reported the abuse to police officers and the like but no action was taken.

Foster carers appear often to take on too many children that they could realistic care for often in poor housing. The suspicion is that this was financially motivated  given that an allowance was paid for each child.

One of the victims Les Cummings led a dedicated team which unearthed evidence which pointed to the authorities at worse appreciating and at best ignoring the abuse and neglect.

Les needs to be mentioned again because he is an example of what I believe to be “people power”. He led a camapign drawing attention to the plight and suffering of the victims, and meant that the “story” was one that was not going to go away.

Les hs turned author and written a book about his experiences: “Forgotten - An Abusive Children’s Home - A Childhod Destroyed”.

The book I understand will be published by Macmillan in October.

I have recently received copies of two other books from victims who have decided to put pen to paper:

“Abuse - The true Story of John Affleck”  by John Affleck and is published by Verite CM Ltd; and

“No Way Home” by Sue Martin, and is published by Vermilion.

Returning to Portsmouth Cottage Homes a settlement was negotiated in June 2008 and each victim has now received an undisclosed sum in damages.

It was absolutely necessary in this case, as with so many others, to obtain sufficient evidence in order to overcome any defence based on limitation. Local authorities will often argue that a claim is “time barred” in other words brought too late. In order to overcome this argument, which can be in some cases fatal to the claim, evidence has to be found to show that the ause allegations are true. Given that we had nineteen clients, and a number of witnesses the scales begin to tip away from any claim that the case is “too late”.

Alan Collins

02392492472