Medomsley guard Alexander Flavell abused young inmate

Alexander Flavell, pictured at an earlier court hearing, was deemed unfit to stand trial

A former prison officer has been found to have committed an indecent assault on a young inmate in the 1970s.

Alexander Flavell, 89, had denied offending when at Medomsley Detention Centre near Consett, County Durham.

He was declared unfit to stand trial as he has dementia but jurors at Teesside Crown Court found he had also committed misconduct in public office.

Flavell was cleared of a serious sexual assault - which would now be charged as rape - and two charges of assault.

The jury was unable to agree on a final charge of assault and the prosecution will decide at a later date if it will apply for a retrial on that count.

Judge Howard Crowson told the jury the only possible outcome was an absolute discharge as Flavell has dementia, as well as physical problems.

Due to the defendant's condition the jury had been asked simply to consider whether the acts he was accused of had happened.

Acts of violence

Prosecutors had told the trial Flavell was a bully who persistently exploited his position of authority.

The defendant denied the offences when the allegations were put to him at a police interview in 2014 but had since become too ill to stand trial and was not present at court.

Flavell had at times worked as a chef with Neville Husband, who was convicted of serious sexual offences 20 years ago, and has since died.

In 1972 they indecently assaulted an inmate in the kitchen when they ordered him to strip naked and covered him in grease.

The misconduct charge, which spanned from 1969 to 1975, related to a number of complainants who alleged Flavell committed unlawful acts of violence on them.

Medomsley Detention Centre operated from 1961 to 1987

Medomsley, a former Victorian orphanage, was run as a detention centre for young male offenders aged from 17 to 21 between 1961 and 1987.

Flavell's was the fourth and final trial involving allegations of physical and sexual abuse there.

The Operation Seabrook investigation into allegations of historical abuse at Medomsley has been one of the biggest of its kind in the country. It was launched in 2013 and had a team of 70 detectives working on the case at times.

More than 2,000 survivors contacted Durham Police to report abuse.

Flavell is the eighth former member of staff at Medomsley to be prosecuted.

The trial had been postponed several times due to the Coronavirus pandemic.