A recent investigation by BBC Journalists has uncovered CCTV footage showing serious abuse against children with special needs at the Whitefield School in North East London.
The CCTV footage shows children with learning disabilities and mental disorders being locked in padded rooms, restrained by the neck, and being left to sit in their own vomit. It is thought that around 40 children were confined in the rooms for hours between 2014-2017.
Whitefield school was previously rated as “outstanding” by Ofsted, until 2017 when the padded rooms were discovered. Despite the discovery, no further action was taken at this stage.
Over 500 hours of footage had been discovered by new leadership of the school, who shared it with the Police. One safeguarding expert told the BBC that the footage resembles “torture”, with one parent commenting that “you wouldn’t even do that to a dog”.
One staff member, who was responsible for reviewing the CCTV footage, has reported feeling ‘desensitised’ to the footage, and has said that the school’s leadership were difficult to contact.
It was found that many complaints were made by parents at the time of the abuse, however these were not investigated until the footage was uncovered. One mother has called it a “cover up”.
A Police investigation into the abuse ended earlier this year, however no charges have been brought despite the evidence available. Many parents have reported that their children have developed PTSD and severe psychological damage as a result of the abuse.
The Local MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith has described the footage as “jaw- dropping”, and said the Whitefield School footage “must lead to profound change”. The Flourish Trust, which runs Whitefield, says it has learned from the failings in this case.
The Children’s Commissioner for England, Rachel de Souza, has called for a review of the use of restraint and so-called “calming rooms” following the revelations.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister has stated that they “are clear that this cannot and should not have happened and should not happen again.”
Families have been offered counselling by Waltham Forest Local Authority, however the families have said that their children will need significant help to address the abuse faced.
At Farleys, we regularly deal with complex and difficult claims on behalf of victims of abuse against an array of Local Authorities and institutions. We are leading specialist experts in abuse law, with more than 20 years of experience in seeking justice for our clients in such cases.
If you would like to speak to an experienced member of our abuse team in confidence, please call our dedicated abuse line on 0330 134 6430 or send your enquiry through our online contact form.
