HIA: Allegations of abuse at Rathgael Training School

The HIA has been told that some former residents claimed they suffered physical and sexual abuse at Rathgael Training School in Bangor

A former worker at a state-run school has been accused of throwing a young boy, who couldn't swim, into the sea.

Allegations of abuse at Rathgael Training School in Bangor are currently being examined at the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Department of Justice said it accepted young people may have been abused at the school.

It said they had the right to be cared for with dignity and respect and protected from abuse.

"The department accepts that the evidence available to the inquiry suggests that these standards were not always complied with in every case and the department regrets any abuse which did occur and condemns the perpetrators of any such abuse as well as those who may have ignored the abuse or tolerated it," the department said.

The inquiry has been hearing evidence from a man who was sent to the school in the 1970s.

The witness claimed there was a lot of "physical, emotional and verbal abuse" from some staff members and other boys.

He described some of his time at the school as "very frightening."

The man added that it was "like a prison, it wasn't like a children's home."

He also described a day trip to Strickland's Glen in Bangor when a staff member threw his brother into the sea.

He said his brother couldn't swim and was "terrified."

The witness concluded his evidence by revealing that his brother died two years ago.

He told the Inquiry the incident "lived with him for years" and just before his death, his brother was still "distraught" by what happened.