Former Kent children's home residents suing council over abuse claims

The children's home was located on Borstal Road in Rochester

Former residents of a children's home are suing Kent County Council over allegations they were abused in care.

The nine claimants were residents at Medvale, a 10-bed home for teenagers in Rochester, Kent, which closed in 1990.

It is alleged they were abused by Peter Jaynes who was employed as the officer in charge in 1986 and who practiced controversial "regression therapy".

Jaynes was jailed for various historic abuse offences against children in 1991.

Jaynes, who died in 2017, was convicted, along with three others, for his part in what became known as the Leicestershire children's home scandal.

Katherine Yates, a solicitor acting for the claimants, said: "All of them have struggled in their adult life dealing with the trauma of what happened to them.

"One of them went for counselling and finally spoke about what had happened and then contacted us and we started to look for witnesses and we found the practice was widespread," she said.

"I'm hoping for an apology, some clients want some compensation. They really want recognition that what happened to them was wrong."

'Cuddled by staff'

One of the claimants who wishes to remain anonymous, and was a resident at Medvale in the 1980s, spoke to the BBC.

She said: "We were not allowed to be teenagers. We were put to bed with dummies, and bottles and teddy bears, we were read children's stories and that was that. You did not have a choice in that - you had to do it or you ended up in 'pindown'.

"If you were in the young group you could only drink from bottles, you had to have a dummy, you had to suck your thumb, you had to sit and watch sad films and get in touch with your emotions and be cuddled by members of staff on their laps," she said.

"I have spoken to doctors, psychiatrists and therapists. The one thing I always say is even though I'm now in my 50s I still feel like I'm 14 or 15."

She said of Jaynes: "When he was on duty he would come in to my room and sit on my pillow at night and he used to whisper in my ear that I was useless, I was disgusting, I would amount to nothing and I would end up in prison.

"That was the last thing I would hear at night and the first thing I would remember in the morning. And that is still with me to this day," she said.

"He is still in my mind. He will never go away. No matter how much therapy I have I close my eyes and I'm right back there."

A Kent County Council (KCC) spokesperson said: "KCC has received a number of claims relating to historic allegations of abuse at the Medvale Children's Home. These are being investigated. As this is now a legal process, KCC is unable to comment further at this time."

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