Survivors secure posthumous ruling on abuser's MBE

A number of victims have spoken to West Midlands Police since Peter Sherwin's death in 2014

Victims of a serial sex abuser are said to be a step nearer closure after a posthumous ruling on stripping his MBE.

Peter Sherwin, a commanding officer at TS Stirling Sea Cadets in Birmingham, died in 2014 a year after complaints of historical abuse of children emerged.

While he faced no charges, 37 victims sought to challenge his MBE honour years after his death, using new rules rolled out in the wake of revelations about Jimmy Savile.

Officials found for them on Friday.

After considering testimony from the 37, the government's Forfeiture Committee formally ruled that Peter Sherwin's MBE would have been stripped had he been convicted of offences while alive.

Solicitors representing the group in the process said that in the absence of a court case, the finding amounted to "another form of justice".

A man among the 37, Jim - not his real name - said the ruling was a "final nail in the coffin" of his tormentor.

The Forfeiture Committee typically rules on revoking the honours of living parties and in a variety of circumstances, including criminal convictions. Posthumous matters have proved less of a focus as technically, an honour expires with the recipient anyway.

But the panel's scope broadened in 2021 following high-profile, posthumous sexual abuse claims against entertainer Savile and MP Cyril Smith, who were both honours recipients and never convicted of offences. New guidelines allowed the type of formal assessment given on Friday, even after death.

Sherwin, who died aged 67, was appointed an MBE in 1987 for services to the community. The panel stated with its finding that offences suspected by police included the rape of a child under the age of 13.

Jim said the ruling essentially meant Sherwin "didn't deserve [the honour]".

"Good people get MBEs," he said, "so I think it was just another bit of closure for myself to say 'he wasn't a good man' - and people need to know."

Solicitors said the Sea Cadets organisation had paid out more than £1,500,000 in out-of-court settlements to survivors of Sherwin's abuse.

Jim said the majority of the abuse took place at the cadet centre

However, the process has also seen Jim recall events of several decades ago, which he has been sharing with the BBC.

He said he had joined the branch out of "boredom" and the first month was "brilliant", trying his hand at canoeing and sailing.

But the abuse began, he said, on the day of Shard End's Carnival, when his mother told his commander she would not be able to afford to pay for a forthcoming trip.

Peter Sherwin offered to cover the costs.

"It was kind of held over me," Jim said. "I remember the day after we went into the armoury which was like a big steel door where the radios were [and] the pretend guns. He kind of shut the door behind and that was when he told me to take my pants off and that is where it started basically."

Jim explained: "As well as the sexual abuse, he would hit you or threaten you. He would say no one would believe you if you [said anything], or he would basically kill me.

"He would do stuff that would make you scared. Even now as an adult, it kind of had an effect on me, what he had done."

The Sea Cadets still have a base in Shard End

The abuse, Jim said, then took place multiple times a week, until he "built up the courage" to leave the Cadets aged 15.

The abuse always happened at the centre, he explained, except on one occasion when Sherwin took him to the home he shared with his mother to show him a train set.

Jim said he never spoke at the time about what happened and had no idea other cadets had been victims.

He is now 40 and lives in Yorkshire. He found out about Sherwin's abuse of other boys when his mother sent him a news article following his death in which claims were made.

"I just broke down," Jim said.

"It was a strange one," he told the BBC. "I feel sorry for, obviously, the other kids, but it was, like, a relief that it wasn't just me, as bad as that sounds, because I knew I would be believed."

Jim said that after seeing the article, he chose to tell his partner and his mother, and they in turn made contact with the solicitors who have led the approach to the committee.

Jim (represented in a generic image) was one of 37 people to share a statement with the committee

West Midlands Police said it was made aware in 2013 of a historical child sexual abuse allegation against Peter Sherwin, and in response launched an investigation, arresting and questioning him.

But, the force said, there was insufficient evidence to pursue a prosecution and as a result, no further action was taken.

It added that since his death the following year, it had received allegations of child sexual abuse from several complainants and had "listened to each person who has come forward... and crimes have been recorded as a result".

But the force stated his death meant there was no longer opportunity for a criminal justice outcome.

West Midlands Police said it would support victims of Sherwin

The Sea Cadets organisation has previously apologised for "any hurt or anger felt by any victim of abuse". It said the first it was aware of any claims against Sherwin was in 2013 when its safeguarding team was contacted by West Midlands Police - at which point he was suspended.

It said it took safeguarding concerns seriously and had a zero tolerance approach to abuse.

The Ministry of Defence, which sponsors cadet forces, said it now had more robust systems in place to protect members.

Sherwin's victims said that in the absence of justice, they felt compelled to apply to the government's Forfeiture Committee, making use of updated guidance in the wake of Savile and Smith that came into effect in September 2021.

'Sadistic'

Solicitors Bolt Burdon Kemp, the legal firm which led the proceedings on behalf of victims, said the abuse Sherwin inflicted was "serious, sadistic and occurred over a prolonged period of time".

Rebecca Sheriff, partner at the firm, said the committee's action was "extremely unusual" and she believed Sherwin was only the third person to be made subject to such a ruling after Savile and Smith.

She said Sherwin's case had been raised to the firm following a BBC Panorama investigation into abuse within cadet forces.

Rebecca Sheriff said clients should be "proud" of securing the ruling

Ms Sheriff said: "We have acted for 37 victims which is just astonishing and if I am honest I probably think it is a lot more than that, [and] that for obvious reasons people haven't come forward but it just shows the amount of damage that Sherwin did in his decades when he was involved in the cadets."

She added of the proceedings: "It is essentially another way of trying to hold him to account for his actions because he died unpunished, unconvicted.

"I think it just provides clients with the additional closure, another form of justice, knowledge he hasn't gotten away with what he did, acknowledgement from the committee as to what he did."

She said she hoped it would encourage more victims of sexual abuse to seek action in similar circumstances.

In the meantime, Jim said while his abuse had led to problems with drink and drugs as a teen, he had been sober for 15 years and despite having some mental health challenges and feeling he had burdened his loved ones with his account, his family support was "brilliant".