Clint Massey: Kincora cancer victim's plea to politicians

Clint Massey wants Northern Ireland's politicians to "stop bickering"

A man who suffered sexual abuse at a Belfast boys' home, and has been told he has only months to live, has called on politicians to "stop bickering".

Clint Massey, now aged 60, was abused at the Kincora Boys Home when he was 16.

He made an emotional plea for the implementation of the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry report.

Mr Massey is suffering from lung and brain cancer, and said he "wants to be here when this is finally wrapped up".

Speaking on the BBC's Nolan Show, Mr Massey said some of the politicians' actions were "unbelievably petty".

The HIA Inquiry, chaired by retired judge Sir Anthony Hart, recommended a state apology and compensation for victims, but the Stormont executive collapsed just days after its publication in January 2017.

Three senior care staff at Kincora were jailed in 1981 for abusing 11 boys

Mr Massey made a similar plea in July 2017, but now time may be running out for him.

'New meat'

He explained how staff at the home "just saw every one of the boys as new meat".

Three senior care staff at Kincora were jailed in 1981 for abusing 11 boys.

At least 29 boys were abused at the home between the late 1950s and the early 1980s.

Mr Massey says he was an average teenage boy with a girlfriend before he went to Kincora, but his experience there left him unable to form relationships.

"I'm really scared of physical contact. I can't have it. It's like an electric shock going through my body," he said.

The Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry recommendations included an apology to victims

Following his recent cancer diagnosis, doctors told Mr Massey he had a matter of months but he said he prefers to ignore this and remain positive.

"I was dealt a bad hand at first, but nobody deserves to be dealt two bad hands," he said.

Asked about the compensation, Mr Massey said the money was not important, "but it's the only way we can get to the state".

'Spanner in the works'

"That is the establishment that really runs this country. That is them standing up and holding their hands up and saying our predecessors got this wrong," he explained.

Mr Massey accused Northern Ireland's politicians of "throwing a spanner in the works" just as the victims of child abuse were about to achieve closure.

"Please, please stop the pettiness," he said. "It's human beings here, ordinary decent people. Talk. I believe you can do that.