Berrow Wood: School abuser who failed to attend court arrested

Maurice Lambell will be sentenced at a later date after failing to turn up to Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday

A former boarding school worker found guilty of abusing boys in his care has been arrested after failing to attend court for sentencing.

A warrant was issued for the arrest of Maurice Lambell after he did not turn up to Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday.

The court heard Lambell, who worked at Berrow Wood School in Worcestershire, had been bailed to "get his affairs in order" due to the jail term expected.

His co-accused Keith Figes was imprisoned for 27 years.

Lambell, 69, of Platt Fold Street, Wigan, was arrested at 06:20 BST in Blackpool by Lancashire Police and taken into custody.

He will appear at Birmingham Crown Court on Thursday for breaching his bail conditions and a new sentencing date will be fixed.

Keith Figes was jailed for 27 years - but Lambell's chair was empty during the hearing

Judge Martin Jackson heard Lambell had not been in touch with his solicitor and care worker for days but that he had visited his parents' graves because he was unlikely to see them again.

He was convicted in July for sexually abusing multiple boys under the age of 16 at the residential school which was for children with behavioural difficulties.

• The abusive school where boys were just a number

He had denied 30 offences including indecent assault and buggery but was found guilty by a jury.

Figes and Lambell bring the number of Berrow Wood staff convicted of physical and sexual abuse to nine.

Both men were "housefathers" at the school in Pendock, near Tewkesbury and Malvern - pastoral positions of care that boys at the school were supposed to trust.

Instead, they groomed the boys for their own sexual gratification, often threatening their victims that nobody would believe them if they spoke out.

The school had a caravan on its grounds which Lambell used to sexual abuse boys

Figes, of Bourton, Dorset, was charged with 46 separate offences against four victims. On the first day of his trial, he pleaded guilty to 11 offences against four victims, including indecent assault and buggery, which was accepted by the court.

The court heard it was the third time he had been convicted of sexual abuse crimes and had been previously jailed in the 1980s.

Berrow Wood was a school for "malajusted" boys, sent there by local authorities across England in the hope they would have a better education than in mainstream schools.

But the regime at the school was "brutal" and dozens of boys, isolated miles from home and away from their families, suffered physical and sexual abuse.

Kieth Figes was told he'd likely die in prison

The school shut in shame in 1992 when West Mercia Police launched its first of many police investigations.

A year later, six men, including headmaster Ron Morris and owner of the school, Alan Gorton were jailed for cruelty and violence against children.

In 2019, housemaster Barry Hastings was jailed for sexual abuse against an ex-pupil. These crimes were also committed in the 1980s.

Headmaster Ron Morris was convicted for cruelty and ABH against children

Det Insp Mark Walters commended the victims for the courage shown in coming forward and the way they had conducted themselves during the trial and sentencing.

"The abuse has had long-lasting effects on their mental and physical health and the trauma caused by Lambell and Figes is something which will live with them forever," he said.

"Unfortunately, the convictions came too late for two victims, who sadly died before they got to see justice done. Our thoughts remain with their family and friends."