Lawyers investigate claims of child sexual abuse at Children’s Home in Islington
The abuse claims team at law firm Leigh Day are calling for witnesses in their investigation of non-recent sexual abuse at Park Place Children’s Home, Islington, during the 1990s.
Posted on 04 July 2024
Leigh Day have been instructed by a woman (who we will call Sally) who was placed at Park Place (formerly Conewood Street) during the 1990s. While at the home, Sally recalls being subjected to sexual abuse on several occasions by a person who entered her room at night. She also recalls people being given access to the children’s home via a fire escape.
Allegations of abuse and various failings in Islington borough’s children’s homes started to be reported in the media during the early 1990s. The 1995 White Report, which looked into the management of child care in Islington, stated that news articles from the Evening Standard in October 1992 said there were children in care “working as prostitutes and Islington children’s homes were being used to entertain customers”; that “some children were sexually abused…”; that “fears regarding an organised child sex ring were dismissed by management and not properly investigated”; and alleged children’s homes had been “out of control at times with lapses in security”. One news article from the time stated that “violent men, possibly pimps were gaining entry to children’s homes through windows” of one of Islington’s children’s homes.
Investigations by Leigh Day’s legal team are in their early stages, and the abuse claims team asks that anybody with knowledge of Park Place Children’s Home during the relevant time get in touch.
Sally said:
“They took advantage of me sexually, emotionally and physically. I was placed in their care and they exploited me. I spend the days of my life, marinated in grief. I'm unable to trust. I fear people”
Solicitor Andrew Lord represents Sally. He said:
“My client alleges that she experienced serious sexual abuse in a children’s home at a time when there was increased scrutiny of the local authority. Sally described how the abuse occurred on several occasions and, alarmingly, she recalls people being given access to the home through fire escapes at a time when London Borough of Islington ought to have been conducting a thorough overall review of their safeguarding procedures.”
If you have any information which may assist the case please contact the abuse claims team at Leigh Day by calling us on 020 7650 1200, or by completing our short enquiry form.