Some of the later problems, not at Haut De La Garrenne but at Greenfields raise disturbing questions about supervision and procedure in recent years. I saw Mr Kennedy on TV saying that the Grand Prix system was never actually implemented (even though one victim of it said she had been through it). But if it was never implemented, why on earth was it thought up in the first place? The very fact of its existence as an ideal suggestion for practice raises serious questions about the thinking of staff in the first place for devising it, even on paper.
The Telegraph noted that:
Haut de la Garenne was closed in 1986, and it may indeed be unlikely that a system of such widespread and profound torment could operate unchecked for so long today. Yet contemplate this: there is a separate, ongoing investigation into another Jersey children's home now known as Greenfields, for at-risk and vulnerable children aged 11 and above.
Greenfields has been run since 2003 by Joe Kennedy, a man with a background in the prison service and no social work qualification. He instituted a regime called "Grand Prix" in which bad behaviour could incur a minimum spell of 24 hours in "the pits", or the isolation cell. Just to get them used to the pits, the official policy until 2006 was that each child would routinely begin his or her stay at Greenfields with a 24-hour isolation period. What a welcome for a frightened 12-year-old, eh?
Haut de la Garenne was closed in 1986, and it may indeed be unlikely that a system of such widespread and profound torment could operate unchecked for so long today. Yet contemplate this: there is a separate, ongoing investigation into another Jersey children's home now known as Greenfields, for at-risk and vulnerable children aged 11 and above.
Greenfields has been run since 2003 by Joe Kennedy, a man with a background in the prison service and no social work qualification. He instituted a regime called "Grand Prix" in which bad behaviour could incur a minimum spell of 24 hours in "the pits", or the isolation cell. Just to get them used to the pits, the official policy until 2006 was that each child would routinely begin his or her stay at Greenfields with a 24-hour isolation period. What a welcome for a frightened 12-year-old, eh?
On the Times, there is also a report:
The practice of locking children away in solitary did not end with the closure of Haut de la Garenne. As recently as December 2006, a secure room nicknamed "the pits" at an institution named Greenfields is alleged to havebeen used as an isolation cell for new arrivals.
Staff were instructed to keep children in there for 24 hours, but this could be extended: "Should any unwanted behaviour be shown, the 24 hours may be started from the start of compliant behaviour."
Last year,a solicitor at the Howard League for Penal Reform, based in London, drew up a legal opinion that found the Greenfields regime "appears predicated on a complex system of using isolation and deprivation as a means of control" and suggested it could breach international human rights law.
Last year,a solicitor at the Howard League for Penal Reform, based in London, drew up a legal opinion that found the Greenfields regime "appears predicated on a complex system of using isolation and deprivation as a means of control" and suggested it could breach international human rights law.
The Jersey government, which said it was not in a position to comment on the specifics of the Greenfields allegations, hasinvited the league's inspectors to visit at the end of this month.
A Welsh Newspaper has this report:
Former Welshpool High School pupil Simon Bellwood blew the whistle on "abusive" child care practice on the island in January 2007 and 13 months later the grim remains of a child's body were discovered under a thick concrete floor inside the Victorian mansion – leading to the bricked-up cellar of the Haut de la Garenne children's home being excavated amid fears of a communal burial.
Mr Bellwood, 33, grew up in Maesmawr, near Guilsfield, and as a child attended Leighton Primary School before going on to Welshpool High School.
After leaving secondary school in the early 1990s Mr Bellwood went on to work as a social worker for Powys Youth Service and The Orchard School, near Buttington.
Mr Bellwood eventually left the area in his late teens but regularly returns to visit his mother, Rachael Compton, and step-father, Chris Compton, who still live in Welshpool. His step-father, Chris, runs a business in Castle Caereinion that specialises in rebuilding pre-war Alvis sports/competition cars.
Mr Bellwood, who claims he was sacked after making a complaint about a "Dickensian" system in a secure unit where children as young as 11 years old were routinely locked up for 24 hours or more in solitary confinement, says he has lifted the lid on 50 years of child abuse.
He suggested that children in Jersey were being put at risk in child care services because of deficient practice, poor staff training, lack of external scrutiny of services and a "culture of fear" preventing staff from speaking out.
After taking the job of centre manager at the Greenfield secure unit in Jersey in August 2006, Mr Bellwood quickly found himself "criticised for having a problem with punishment" when he raised concerns about holding children in solitary confinement in a policy then in place known as Grand Prix (French for Great Prize).
Bellwood described how children were put on four levels according their behaviour – qualifier, grid, track and pits – those unlucky enough to be considered for the 'pits' category would spend 24 hours in solitary confinement for repeated bad
behaviour.
Mr Bellwood withdrew the policy within a couple of months of arriving in Jersey, but when elements of it were revived while he was away from the unit in January 2007 he submitted a formal complaint against the practice.
However, Mr Bellwood's complaint was not upheld and as a result he claims he was put on gardening leave and then dismissed in May 2007 on the grounds of incapability – a charge he strongly disputes.
"I was trying to offer the therapeutic environment I had been told they wanted, but the harsh truth was that punishment and fear had worked so well in the past that the senior managers saw no reason to change anything," he said.
"If I had known that I would be powerless to change their punitive practices and that I would be expected to put these vulnerable young people into single separation for hours or days at a time, I would never have taken the job."
Mr Bellwood, 33, grew up in Maesmawr, near Guilsfield, and as a child attended Leighton Primary School before going on to Welshpool High School.
After leaving secondary school in the early 1990s Mr Bellwood went on to work as a social worker for Powys Youth Service and The Orchard School, near Buttington.
Mr Bellwood eventually left the area in his late teens but regularly returns to visit his mother, Rachael Compton, and step-father, Chris Compton, who still live in Welshpool. His step-father, Chris, runs a business in Castle Caereinion that specialises in rebuilding pre-war Alvis sports/competition cars.
Mr Bellwood, who claims he was sacked after making a complaint about a "Dickensian" system in a secure unit where children as young as 11 years old were routinely locked up for 24 hours or more in solitary confinement, says he has lifted the lid on 50 years of child abuse.
He suggested that children in Jersey were being put at risk in child care services because of deficient practice, poor staff training, lack of external scrutiny of services and a "culture of fear" preventing staff from speaking out.
After taking the job of centre manager at the Greenfield secure unit in Jersey in August 2006, Mr Bellwood quickly found himself "criticised for having a problem with punishment" when he raised concerns about holding children in solitary confinement in a policy then in place known as Grand Prix (French for Great Prize).
Bellwood described how children were put on four levels according their behaviour – qualifier, grid, track and pits – those unlucky enough to be considered for the 'pits' category would spend 24 hours in solitary confinement for repeated bad
behaviour.
Mr Bellwood withdrew the policy within a couple of months of arriving in Jersey, but when elements of it were revived while he was away from the unit in January 2007 he submitted a formal complaint against the practice.
However, Mr Bellwood's complaint was not upheld and as a result he claims he was put on gardening leave and then dismissed in May 2007 on the grounds of incapability – a charge he strongly disputes.
"I was trying to offer the therapeutic environment I had been told they wanted, but the harsh truth was that punishment and fear had worked so well in the past that the senior managers saw no reason to change anything," he said.
"If I had known that I would be powerless to change their punitive practices and that I would be expected to put these vulnerable young people into single separation for hours or days at a time, I would never have taken the job."
This is London has:
Social worker Simon Bellwood, 33, who claims he was sacked as a care home manager after voicing concerns about the home, said the lid was about to be lifted on "50 years of child abuse" in Jersey.
He said child services on the island had been plagued by a "Dickensian" system of abuse unchecked because Jersey is not governed by British law or European Union legislation.
Jersey is a crown dependency, not part of the UK but owing allegiance to the British crown. It is largely self-governing and has its own legislative assembly, legal system, courts and police service.
The UK government has historically assumed responsibility for its defence and international relations and only has power to intervene in domestic affairs if there is a "grave breakdown or failure in the administration of justice or civil order."
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