After certain witnesses have gone awol and more sudden changes of venue, day-8 and day-9 of the hearing have had to be rescheduled. The new dates will be listed at the bottom of this post. As it now seems that there will be no further hearing this week I would like to give my-own short conclusion.

"If you can't handle the heat stay out of the kitchen"
A phrase that almost every English speaking person will have heard before and one that seems to be very applicable to those having to give evidence in the 2nd week of hearing for the IICSA. In the 1st week we all heard the accounts of some victims who spoke of the abuse they suffered while under the supervision of Nottinghamshire city council and Nottinghamshire county council. Apart from a swift change of venues from Pocock Street London to Trent Bridge cricket ground, Nottingham, due to the original venue being flooded by the property above, the 1st week went ahead without any further disruption. All of the core participants turned up to faced the crowds and all of them bravely relived their nightmarish pasts for the benefit of future generations. Other than having to pause due to an outbreak of their own emotions the accounts they gave never broke stride, neither did they stutter and very rarely did they forget crusial parts of their own accounts. Unfortunately, the same can not be said for what went on in the 2nd week of hearings...

In week-2 it was time for us all to hear the accounts of those who were involved in the welfare of the victims, those we had just heard from the week before. This included accounts from the following;

• David White (Former director of social services)

• Mr James Fenwick (Former principle of Beechwood carehome)

• Rod Jones (Former Head of children and family policy for Nottinghamshire county council)

• Kenneth Rigby (Former Deputy superintendent at Beechwood carehome) - via video link from Australia -

• Jim McLaughlin (Former trainee at Beechwood carehome) - Via video link from UK -

All of the above were made to swear an oath to God before they gave their evidence to the inquiry-panel.

Unlike in week-1 all of the above suffered from selective memory loss and struggled to recount any specific details that may have incriminated themselves or their co-workers. Even Jim McLaughlin, who I believe wasn't involved in any particular abuses, seemed to backtrack and contridict his own written statement given to the police in the run-up to the independant inquiry. Even after he was coerced into recounting his first shift as a trainee, where he was told by a senior staff member that he had to "pick a fight" with one of the residents, he still maintained that he didin't feel there was a bad atmosphere inside the Beechwood carehome. This, to me, seems quite an odd conclusion but it did go along with a common thread that seemed to be woven into all of the aboves testimonies. It appears that for those who could get away with it, the less you say, the better it was for yourself and the sooner your part in the inquiry would end. As Jim McLaughlin only lasted 18-months in his post as a care-worker his evidence could only ever have limited capabilities. It also seems that Jim was very young at the time and any of his concerns were simply ignored by his seniors.

Other than Mr McLaughlin, the rest of week-2 was very intense and left anyone listening with no doubt that Beechwood was exactly as described by many of the Judges who had sentenced the handfull of abuses who were prosecuted. Beechwood was indeed "a home from hell" and the residents were at the mercy of those who worked there. Alongside this it has now become apparent that the social workers who were supposed to be supervising the supervisors were of the opinion that these children deserved all they got. Even the Police did nothing to help and always returned absconding children, without any consideration, back to Beechwood.

Decades of child abuse were actively facilitated and supported by all authorities in-charge and it is only due to the survivors that we are now hearing the truth about what it was like to be in the care of Nottinghamshire council. We also have to thank the council who are representing the victims and in particular Mr Sadd, who has been nothing short of inspirational.

Mr Sadd has given nothing away while cross-examining the people sat before him and he has certainly not been fooled by any of their lies. Mr Sadd even takes the time to leave long pauses when given responses that insult our intelligence, just so everyone can take a moment to absorb what they have just heard and to allow those who lie to stew in their own juices.

Although it seem that this part of the inquiry is being hampered by changes of venue and key-witnesses going awol I hope that when it eventually returns it will be allowed to continue with the same amount of diligence and respect to the victims.

Peace be with you all and thank you to everyone who has been supporting these posts.

New hearing dates

https://www.iicsa.org.uk/investigations/timetable