I saw no abuse at Haut de la Garenne, says 1960s witness

Saturday 16 August 2014

The “familiar territory” of Haut de la Garenne children’s home provided a welcome respite for one boy to the ordeal of foster care, the Independent Jersey Care Enquiry heard yesterday.

Michael Laing, the first witness to give evidence of conditions in the home during the 1960s, told the Inquiry that he “didn’t see or experience anything untoward” and that he thought the claims of abuse “may relate to a later period”.

He had two different spells at the home between the ages of eight and 13, and having spent the first 21 years of his life in the care of the States of Jersey, he had “no problems” at the home and wished “I’d stayed there for the whole of my time”.

Instead, he spent numerous periods with a variety of foster parents - whose reasons for looking after him ranged from “beating the badness” out of him, to needing a source of income or “a friend” for their youngest son. He also suffered sexual abuse and violence, including (when still an infant) being gagged with his soiled underpants so neighbours couldn’t hear his screams.

However, not all of his foster parents abused him, although most were indifferent to his needs, but he says he never received any love and affection “you know, arms round the shoulder, a cuddle, anything like that” and that, since the age of three, he’d learned to “emotionally distance myself from traumatic experiences”.

So, although the regime at Haut de la Garenne was strict, everyone was treated equally and he remembered it as a “happy” time despite being caned on one occasion – which “wasn’t a big issue” – and spending periods in the isolation room for losing his temper.

“I was free – you know, you went to school, we were taken out, we had holidays,” he said of his time there.

And it was only later in life (when he had access to his personal files) that he found out how often the home’s superintendent had sought to act on his behalf, including expressing his misgivings at the suitability of some foster parents. He also recalled that, at the time, the superintendent had apologised to him for the caning incident which he told Laing “should never have happened” as it had taken place while he (the superintendent) was away on holiday.

“I think I was quite surprised when I read the files and found out just how much did go on behind the scenes,” said Mr Laing.