Orkney child abuse scandal
[1] The M and T families were recorded, by the social work department, as helping with tutoring the W children, babysitting and providing Mrs W with support when corresponding with authorities.
[1] On 23 January 1991, a hearing resulted in the children being subject to supervision order with a condition of residence away from home, and their mother was denied contact with them for three months.
[1] Interviews were held with the younger W children by a social worker, staff of the RSSPCC and with the police, from November 1990 to March 1991, in some cases.
Three of the younger W children made separate allegations of sexual abuse and recounted taking part in outdoor rituals in a quarry and on a beach in South Ronaldsay.
On 6 February 1991, when interviewed, MW described dancing to popular music with the children and adults and was quoted saying "we don't need to talk about the dirty stuff.
"[1] By 13 February, Mr Lee and Mrs Millar agreed that they should seek the removal of nine children under Place of Safety Orders, because they believed there was corroborated evidence, provided by the interviews, of sexual abuse.
[9] The case came to court on 3 April 1991, by acting Orkney Reporter Gordon Sloan following the parents' refusal to accept the grounds of referral to the Children's Panel.
[4] In a 1992 article The Independent explain the role of the Reporter in the Scottish system:[7] Scotland has no juvenile courts so the panels, sitting as childrens' [sic] hearings, deal with minor crime and also decide what action to take in child protection cases.
After a single day, the presiding judge, Sheriff David Kelbie, dismissed the case as fatally flawed and the children of the four families were allowed to return home.
[10] He found in summary that "these proceedings are so fatally flawed as to be incompetent" and that the children concerned had been separated and subjected to repeated cross-examinations almost as if the aim were to force confessions rather than to assist in therapy.
[12] Sheriff Kelbie added that in his view "There is no lawful authority for that whatsoever" and he also said that he was unclear what the supposed evidence provided by the social services proved.
The objects seized during the raids were later returned; they included a videotape of the TV show Blackadder, a detective novel by Ngaio Marsh, and a model aeroplane made by one of the children from two pieces of wood, which had been identified by social workers as a "wooden cross".
[7] Gordon Sloan decided to abandon the appeal and took the view that in the light of factors including the publicity since Kelbie's decision, the case was severely compromised.
[1] In June 1991, the UK Government announced that there would be a public inquiry under Lord James John Clyde with the remit to investigate the authorities' actions and to make recommendations for future place of safety orders.
[1] It described the successful appeal against the first judgement as "most unfortunate" and criticised all those involved, including the social workers, the police, and the Orkney Islands Council.
Social workers' training, methods, and judgement were given special condemnation, and the report stated that the concept of "ritual abuse" was "not only unwarrantable at present but may affect the objectivity of practitioners and parents".
[16][17] In her 2016 book, Tackling Child Sexual Abuse: Radical Approaches to Prevention, Protection and Support, Sarah Nelson is critical of the media's representation of the case.
Greene described the journey back to Kirkwall when the children were to be reunited with their families, saying "They changed and became hyperactive, with sexualised talk and sexual propositions to adults on the aeroplane.
"[3][18] Nelson also quotes the reaction of one of the children cited in Lord Clyde's Inquiry Report:[3] She had been given a parcel containing cards and articles from Orkney, but she flung them all on the floor as if in a fit of rage.
She left the foster carer’s house in tears.The British Association of Social Workers (BASW) responded to the BBC interview with Esther W in 2013.
[6] Liz McLean, the social worker who led the interviews with the children, had also been involved in the 1990 Rochdale "Satanic Abuse" case.
She was later sharply criticised by Lord Clyde in the official inquiry into the South Ronaldsay case, and in another investigation into similar allegations in Ayrshire.
