More than 350 ex-inmates of Teesside prison claim they suffered serious abuse

Cleveland Police is investigating historic allegations ranging from the 1960s to the 1990s when Kirklevington operated as a mixed remand centre

 Kirklevington Grange prison

More than 350 former inmates of a Teesside prison have now come forward claiming they suffered serious abuse there as teenagers.

Cleveland Police is investigating historic allegations ranging from the 1960s to the 1990s when Kirklevington operated as a mixed remand centre.

In February last year, The Gazette reported how the force was investigating allegations from more than 70 former inmates at HMP Kirklevington, near Yarm .

Following media reports of the probe that figure has continued to rise and now stands at 355 people who have contacted Cleveland Police saying they were physically abused.

Cleveland Police have confirmed that two men, aged 62 and 71, who were arrested in connection with the inquiry, had been released without charge.

One former prisoner David Ginelly, who was transferred to Kirklevington as a teenager in the 1970s from Tong Park near Bradford, went on television to talk about his alleged experiences of abuse.

He told BBC’s Inside Out programme he was “dragged out of the van by my hair, thrown up the wall, thrown into a cold bath, smashed against the wall and told I must memorise all these rules”.

“I have never been a saint and I don’t doubt that what I have done deserved punishment - but not brutality, not to that extent, not at 14 years old,” he said.

Five police forces across the north are investigating historic allegations of abuse at least 11 different institutions which house troubled teenagers, including Kirklevington.

Molly Frost, from Jordans solicitors in West Yorkshire, is representing many of the claimants and said she understands why growing numbers of former inmates are willing to speak out.

“Once a person sees that other people are talking about abuse they feel empowered themselves to do the same,” she said.

James Wharton , Conservative MP for Stockton South, has backed the police probe.

Kirklevington Grange prison

“If there is evidence of wrongdoing then the police should take action, crimes of this nature leave long-lasting scars and damage and cannot be allowed to go unpunished,” he said previously.

“Any evidence must be robust and any resulting investigation appropriate, but if there was abuse then those who perpetrated it need to be brought to justice.”

The Ministry of Justice has also urged anyone with evidence of abuse to “bring it to the attention of the appropriate authorities so it can be examined as a matter of serious concern”.

A Cleveland Police spokeswomen said: “This is a complex and extensive investigation, throughout which a high number of victims have come forward and continue to do so.

“We are supporting these victims and putting them in touch with relevant agencies where necessary.

“It is very much an active investigation and our enquiries are still ongoing.”

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HMP Kirklevington abuse inquiry: More than 350 ex-inmates claim abuse

Former inmate Andrew Drabarek said he was regularly beaten 

More than 350 ex-inmates at a detention centre have come forward to say they were abused, police have said.

Most of the men - formerly teenagers at HMP Kirklevington, near Yarm - have alleged they were physically abused and some sexually assaulted.

They allege the abuse took place between the 1960s and 1990s when the prison was a mixed remand centre.

Police said two men, aged 62 and 71, arrested in connection with the inquiry had been released without charge.

 Kirklevington was converted into a resettlement prison for adult male offenders in 1992

A spokesman for the Cleveland force said the investigation, which began in 2016, was "complex and extensive".

He said help and support was being offered to those who had come forward.

One of the complainants, Andrew Drabarek, who was an inmate as a teenager, said he was regularly beaten.

He said: "You accept punishment, but not like that - being beaten by a grown man when you are a teenager is something else."

The Ministry of Justice has urged anyone with allegations to report them to police.

Kirklevington was converted to a resettlement prison for adult male offenders in 1992.

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Sex attacks in Teesside prison on the rise - but no convictions

Figures obtained by the Gazette suggest a year-on-year increase of sex attacks at Holme House since 2012 - but no convictions

 

Holme House Prison in Stockton

Sex attacks at a Teesside prison are on the rise but perpetrators are not being brought to justice, figures suggest.

Although the number of sexual assaults reported by inmates at Stockton’s Holme House Prison has increased year-on-year since 2012, not a single criminal conviction has been secured.

In 2015, there were seven reported assaults at Holme House Prison, compared to five in 2014 and just two the previous year.

There were none reported at Kirklevington Grange between 2011 and 2015.

But a prisons charity believes the real figures are much higher.

The Gazette made a Freedom of Information request to the Ministry of Justice following a shocking case of a prisoner who raped a fellow inmate.

Graham Lindo who raped a fellow inmate at HMP Nortumberland

Stockton drug dealer Graham Lindo lured the vulnerable victim into his cell at HMP Northumberland, locked the door and pulled out a homemade weapon, fashioned from a toothbrush and razor blade. The 27-year-old then threatened to cut man’s throat before raping him.

After pleading guilty to the March 2016 rape, he was jailed for six years and ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life.

The Gazette asked for data relating to the number of reported prisoner-on-prisoner sexual assaults at Holme House and Kirklevington Grange prisons since 2011 and the number of resulting convictions.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said: “Any assault incident reported as a sexual assault is classified as a serious assault and will be reported to the police.

“There a range of sanctions available to deal with the perpetrators of violence, which may be used incrementally or in combination, depending on the seriousness of the incident and/or the wishes of the victim.

 Holme House Prison

“This may include action through the internal discipline system or referral to the Independent Adjudicator for serious charges which may result in additional days added to a prisoner’s time in custody.

“If referred to the police, the perpetrator may receive a custodial sentence.”

He said determination of whether an assault should be classified as sexual is guided by the wishes of the victim.

Some will be unproven allegations, he added.

Campaigners argue there is an urgent need to determine the nature and scale of sexual abuse in prisons in England and Wales.

National figures show reported sex assaults in prison rose from 113 in 2012 to 300 in 2015

 Kirklevington Grange, Yarm

 In 2014, the Commission on Sex in Prison set up by the Howard League for Penal Reform, said evidence from prison inspectors suggests 1% of prisoners are sexually abused by other inmates or staff.

The charity found that much sexual violence goes under-reported, so the nature and full extent of the problem is not known.

In response to the figures for Teesside, Andrew Neilson, director of campaigns at the charity, said: “While there have been only a few sexual assaults reported in Holme House prison, if it is true that there have been no convictions directly related to these assaults, that is very concerning.

“We have seen a big increase in violence in our overcrowded prison system. We fear that sexual assaults most likely remain under-reported and could be contributing to this.”

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248 ex-inmates allege abuse at North East detention centre

HMP Kirklevington Grange

Mark Thompson

mark.thompson@jpress.co.uk

14:01Wednesday 03 August 2016

Almost 250 former detention centre inmates have come forward to make allegations of historic abuse at the hands of staff.

Cleveland Police confirmed the investigation into events in the 1970s, 80s and 90s at what was Kirklevington detention centre near Yarm is continuing.

 

Earlier this year it said two men aged 70 and 61 had been arrested, the older man on suspicion of rape. They were released without charge.

The force said Operation Magnolia has now heard from 248 complainants.

Kirklevington housed boys aged 14 to 17 who had been sentenced to between three weeks and four months detention. These days they would be likely to receive sentences in the community.

Former inmates have told of a regime of immediate violence by staff upon arrival, cold baths and beatings.

One of them, David Ginnelly, told the BBC Inside Out programme earlier this year: "I don't doubt that what I did deserved punishment, but not brutality, not to that extent, not at 14 years old."

Solicitor David Greenwood, who represents a number of complainants, said: "The men I am helping complain of serious assaults from staff at Kirklevington.

"Most of these assaults were physical in nature but a small number were sexual assaults.

"The investigation by Cleveland Police is welcomed and will hopefully shed light on the brutal treatment meted out to young offenders."

Durham Police are carrying out the country's biggest investigation into historic sexual abuse, at the now-closed Medomsley Detention Centre, near Consett.

So far 1,254 people have told detectives they suffered physical or sexual abuse there.

Kirklevington is now a prison for adults.

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Police probe 250 allegations of abuse at Kirklevington detention centre over 40 years

Kirklevington Prison near Yarm, pictured in 1998 after it became a resettlement prison

5 hrs ago / Julia Breen / @juliabreenEcho
 

ALMOST 250 former inmates of one-time youth detention centre HMP Kirklevington Grange have come forward with allegations of abuse spanning four decades, police confirmed last night.

And The Northern Echo understands that a file has been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider whether any charges can be brought.

Kirklevington, once a youth detention centre, now a resettlement prison on the outskirts of Yarm, is the subject of an inquiry by Cleveland Police which has seen two men, aged 70 and 61, arrested earlier this year and released without charge.

The 70-year-old was arrested on suspicion of rape and the other man on suspicion of misconduct.
Police say the inquiry - Operation Magnolia - is ongoing and revealed it is now investigating allegations from 248 former prisoners.

There have been claims of physical and sexual abuse - including one man, who didn't wish to make an official complaint, who said guards pulled the gromits out of his ear with a hook on a needle.

"I remember my ears and head being in agony," he said.

"I was wondering why the media were mentioning Medomsley all the time when Kirklevington was far more feared."

He also claimed inmates were encouraged to hit each other in the gym, his brother had his eardrum perforated and that he developed long-term health problems including asthma and an irregular heartbeat while inside.

Durham Police are still taking part in the country's biggest investigation into historic sex abuse at the former Medomsley Detention Centre, near Consett. Officers have spoken to 30 former members of staff and 1,254 victims have come forward to tell how they were physically or sexually abused in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Another former Kirklevington inmate claimed: "I was subjected to continuous physical abuse throughout my eight weeks and three days at this hell hole called Kirklevington Grange detention centre in 1979.

"It affected my life so much at 14 years of age that from that moment I have never trusted anyone in a position of authority and have held utter contempt for authority."

Kirklevington was a detention centre operated by the Home Office – now the Ministry of Justice – which housed boys aged 14-17 sentenced to between three weeks and four months' detention.

Another victim, David Ginelly, told BBC's Inside Out programme earlier this year: "All aspects of the daily routine was physical violence, serious assaults from 6am in morning until 7pm at night you were assaulted, you were kicked, you were punched.

“It just never stopped, not even at 7pm when you went to bed.”

Another complainant, Andrew Brabarek, said he was punched so hard he went blind for three days.

He told BBC Tees: "You accept punishment but not like that, being beaten by a grown man when you are a teenager is something else."

Kirklevington changed to an adult male resettlement prison in 1992.

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Judge urges jury to be "dispassionate" considering verdicts in trial of ex-churchman accused of historic sexual abuse

ADVICE: Jury urged to be "dispassionate" considering verdicts in case of ex-Archdeacon of Auckland

A JURY has been urged to be dispassionate in considering its verdicts in the case of a former senior clergyman accused of historic sexual abuse charges.

Judge Christopher Prince was addressing jurors who are expected to retire tomorrow (Wednesday August 3) to begin their deliberations over the seven charges facing the ex-Archdeacon of Auckland, Granville Gibson, stemming from the late 1970s and early 1980s.

The allegations relate to separate complaints made by two male teenagers and a novice churchman, in his mid-20s at the time, arising from Mr Gibson’s eight-year incumbency as minister at St Clare’s Church in Newton Aycliffe.

Eighty-year-old Mr Gibson, now living in retirement in Darlington, denies six counts of indecent assault and one further serious sexual offence.

Summing up the evidence and law in the case, on the seventh day of the trial at Durham Crown Court, Judge Prince told the jury panel: “You must put any emotive reaction to these (allegations) aside and bring a dispassionate, rational consideration of the evidence to bear.”

He advised the jurors to give consideration to all seven charges individually and treat each of the three complainants’ cases separately.

“You must consider the evidence for and against the defendant separately in relation to each count.

“You may find him ‘guilty’ on all counts or ‘not guilty’ on all counts, or ‘guilty’ on some and ‘not guilty’ on others.

“You are dealing with three completely separate trials for no other reason than the law allows you to do so, as a matter of convenience and a matter of cost, saving us having to duplicate a lot of the evidence which would have taken significantly longer than the seven days we have been here so far.”

Judge Prince told jurors that they were dealing with events from as far back as 39 years, in relation to some of the charges, and he said they should not have any “pre-conceived notions” over historic allegations.

He said due to the, “significant passage of time”, some potentially useful material and witnesses are no longer available, including two former bishops whose poor health has prevented either being able to give evidence in the case.

The judge reminded the jury of the evidence heard in the case relating to the first two complainants, the two male teenagers allegedly abused by Mr Gibson.

But he will resume his summing up tomorrow (Wednesday August 3) by referring to the evidence heard in the case involving the third complainant, the young churchman at the time, before sending the jury out to begin their deliberations and consider their verdicts.

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Two men arrested in HMP Kirklevington abuse investigations will not face charges

• 10:43, 2 Aug 2016
• Updated 10:44, 2 Aug 2016
• By David Huntley

The horrific allegations span from the 1960s up until the 1990s at the former remand centre in Yarm

  HMP Kirklevington Grange

Two men arrested as part of investigations into horrific abuse at a former detention centre will not face charges.

248 former inmates of HMP Kirklevington in Yarm have made allegations of being seriously assaulted and abused at the former mixed remand centre as teenagers.

The allegations span from the 1960s up until the 1990s and two men were arrested as part of the investigations.

However, both men have since been released without charge.

A Cleveland Police spokesperson said: “A 70-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of rape and a 61-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of misconduct have both been released without charge.”

They added that inquiries were still ongoing into the abuse claims.

One former inmate who claims to have suffered abuse at the hands of the guards is David Ginelly,
who was transferred to Kirklevington as a teenager in the 1970s from Tong Park near Bradford.

David Ginelly was transferred to Kirklevington as a teenager in the 1970s 

He told BBC’s Inside Out programme in February that when he arrived at the centre at the age of 14 he “was dragged out of the van by my hair, thrown up the wall, thrown into a cold bath, smashed against the wall and told I must memorise all these rules.” 

He added: “All aspects of the daily routine was physical violence, serious assaults from 6am in morning until 7pm at night you were assaulted, you were kicked, you were punched.
“It just never stopped, not even at 7pm when you went to bed.”

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