The state supplied victims to the “worst sex offender in our history” as systemic failures allowed widespread physical and sexual abuse to continue unchecked at a youth detention centre, a major report has found.
The prisons watchdog says survivors of Medomsley Detention Centre deserve a public apology after he found leaders at every level “failed in their duty” to protect detainees.
The centre, which operated from the site of a former Victorian orphanage in Durham from 1961 to 1987, subjected men and boys aged 17 to 21 to brutal physical and psychological abuse which often started with a punch in the face at the prison gates.
Part of a Margaret Thatcher-era policy of hitting low-level offenders with a “short, sharp shock”, violence became an embedded part of a military-style regime in which boys were beaten, strip-searched, humiliated and made to carry out a punishing routine of chores and drills.
Hundreds also found themselves subjected to horrific sexual abuse, including in the kitchens, where predator Neville Husband would rape two or three young men a day.
The government has today issued an apology to victims as a damning new 202-page report, published almost 40 years after Medomsley’s closure, laid bare the extent of failings.
Adrian Usher, the prisons and probation ombudsman (PPO), found allegations of abuse had reached the ears of government ministers, the police and the Prison Service but were “ignored or dismissed”.
Successive wardens were either complicit or “lacked dedication and professional curiosity to such an extent as to not be professionally competent”, the ombudsman said.
He identified dozens of specific cases where individuals tried to speak up, but authorities failed to act. This allowed Medomsley to operate “effectively beyond the reach of the law” for 26 years, Mr Usher found.
“I think you could argue that the leadership at Medomsley was such that every single day was a missed opportunity,” he told The Independent. “Had any of those leaders discharged their duties properly and proactively, then they would have saved the abuse of 1,000s of young men.”
‘I saw inmates eat glass and nails’ to get out of Medomsley
Some detainees were left suicidal as they endured gruelling physical, sexual and psychological abuse.
Some resorted to eating glass and nails, or even drinking a bottle of Brasso metal polish, to try and get out Medomsley and into hospital, survivors recalled.
However the abuse also extended to the sick bay, where they would be punched as they lay in bed.
One detainee said: “The medical officer asked me what was wrong, and I said that I had the flu. He then told me that I had ‘w***er’s disease’. He stuck a paracetamol to my head with an Elastoplast and made me run around in the snow until the paracetamol melted. I had flu and that didn’t do me any good.”
Another was so desperate he tried to take his own life. He said: “On my third day at Medomsley I tried to kill myself. I had been lying in bed all night thinking how I couldn’t cope with the way the guards were treating me.
“I remember thinking that they would end up killing me, so I decided that I wouldn’t give them the chance and I would do it myself first.”
Only eight former members of staff have been jailed for their role in the abuse, including two for sexual offences, following two major probes by Durham Constabulary.
Although the passage of time and loss of evidence make further convictions unlikely, Mr Usher believes only a handful of those involved in the mistreatment were ever held to account.
As of September 2021, the government had already paid out £7.2m to 1,651 victims who endured physical or sexual abuse at the centre. Since then, claims have soared to 2,852 victims. The Ministry of Justice refused to reveal the total payout when asked by The Independent.
“I think there will be members of staff who are still alive, whose own consciences will tell them that they weren’t held to account for what they did in those years,” Mr Usher added. He concluded that the fact that systemic sexual abuse had continued for so long would have required “the silence of many”.
Husband, who ran the kitchens, was jailed in 2003 for sexually abusing five teenagers at the unit. He admitted four more attacks in 2005, but died at liberty in 2010. Had he been held to account for the full scale of his offending, he would have been imprisoned for the rest of his life, the report found.
Husband – described as an “arch-manipulator” who intimidated other staff – has been linked to 388 alleged sex attacks out of a total of 549 documented sexual abuse allegations at Medomsley.
Mr Usher said: “Husband, in my view, is possibly the most prolific sexual offender in our history. Sex offenders are normally constrained by a number of factors. The first is the availability of victims. And in this case, the state was providing him with victims.
“They’re constrained by the fear of being caught, which, over a period of time, Husband would have become increasingly certain that he wasn’t going to be caught. In fact, for his entire professional career, he wasn’t.
“And then, thirdly, by their own libido, and we know that in the case of Husband, we have details of him raping two or three young men a day, and he was employed there for 18 years.”
Mr Usher said oversight and governance were ineffective, and visits from the board were treated “more like social events” to enjoy a cup of tea with the warden.
A total of nine wardens led the detention centre during its operation. Mr Usher added: “I find it extraordinary that in the entire operation of Medomsley, not one of those wardens formed a relationship of trust sufficient for a young man to be able to say what was happening to them in the kitchens.”
‘I didn’t think I was going to get through it’
Tony Regan had just turned 18 when he was sentenced to six months at Medomsley for two assaults.
Within hours of his arrival on 14 November 1976, he had been assaulted four times – starting at the centre’s gates.
“I was handcuffed to two small lads in the back of the police van,” Mr Regan, 67, a decorator, told The Independent.
“They took us up to Medomsley and when we got to the gates… the police officer said to the screw [prison officer] ‘this one likes fighting’ so the screw starts punching us. I went to retaliate but I had the two lads on each end of my arms.”
He spent the next four months “terrified” as he was forced to scrub floors on his hands and knees, only for officers to come past and deliberately scuff them with their boots.
On one occasion, two officers stood on his hands as he was kneeling on the floor cleaning.
“It was just normal that you used to get beat up,” he said, adding that they tended to pick on the smallest detainees.
“Fair enough, we deserved a sentence. We didn’t deserve to get the beatings that we got,” he said. “The scariest was the first two weeks, you know. I didn’t think I was going to get through it, to tell you the truth.”
Mr Regan calls himself “one of the lucky ones” because he had no knowledge of sexual abuse being perpetrated in the kitchens.
He said it was a “disgrace” that so few prison staff were punished for the mistreatment, but fears officers have “closed ranks”.
“They should be held accountable. Come out and tell the truth – say what’s happened and who else was involved. There has never been proper justice. There should be a public inquiry.”
Although he has not made any formal recommendations, Mr Usher warned that the complaints process for children in custody remains the same today.
He also questioned why there is no independent party that proactively speaks to children in custody about safeguarding issues.
“We know that children are most likely to confide if they are being abused to people they know, and yet family members currently can’t make a complaint to a prison about the treatment of their loved one,” he added. “And there is, I think, a threshold of allegation where that shouldn’t be the case.”
Mr Usher believes victims deserve a public apology and he has urged organisations, including the police, the probation service, the prison service and the state, to examine their consciences.
Andrea Coomber KC, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, urged those in public life to read the “unbearable” details of the investigation. She said: “Thousands of young lives were ruined beneath a cloak of secrecy while many of those with the power to make it stop either contributed to the torture or turned the other way.”
She said the damning findings should alert everyone to the reality of what can happen in places of detention when appropriate safeguards are not in place.
“Almost 40 years after Medomsley’s closure, there remains a tolerance of everyday inadequacy in the treatment of children in custody that must be challenged.”
Pia Sinha, chief executive of the Prison Reform Trust, also called for those responsible for individuals in custody to reflect on the report, adding: “Today’s deeply distressing report is a sobering reminder of the importance of transparency, safeguarding, oversight, and accountability in our most closed institutions.
“The abuse suffered by the boys and young men at Medomsley represents a profound failure of care and protection, and it is vital that these truths are recognised and remembered.”
The government apologised to survivors as it announced a new Youth Custody Safeguarding Panel, which will review complaints processes, staff training and ensure the voices of children in custody are heard.
Jake Richards, minister for youth justice, said: “To the men who suffered such horrific abuse at Medomsley, I want to say again – I am truly sorry. The failings set out in today’s report by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman are truly harrowing, and we must ensure nothing like this ever happens again.
“This government is establishing a Youth Custody Safeguarding Panel to review how we protect children in custody today. It will ensure their voices are heard, that complaints are taken seriously, and that every child is kept safe from harm.”
Rape Crisis offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call them on 0808 802 9999 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, and 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland, or visit their website at www.rapecrisis.org.uk. If you are in the US, you can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you
