A letter from Frank, click on it to enlarge!I did a live interview on BBC Radio Jersey's Breakfast Show again this morning responding to Senator Shenton's Letter. You can click the link below to listen.
I will do a more substantive post tomorrow with my Response - Part 4.
I will also be responding to Frank. Let me know if you have any messages for him, I will be happy to pass them on!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p001kkqy/Jersey_Today_02_12_2008/
37 comments:
Why can't you provide a reasoned, rational response to this (i.e. supply the evidence asked for!)? A lot of people are on your side, but your credibility goes down every day while you refuse to engage.
iis Frank who has refused to listen to Simon on countless occasions Not the other way round...
I understand your point.
This is not a case of me simply playing a game. There are a number of issues to consider.
Firstly, I do not have the time to write a 60 page document highlighting all of the evidence.
Secondly, I have been involved in this for two years. This is not something that can be explained fully in a letter.
I have a (very large) suitcase full of paperwork!
Finally, I cannot say too much at this stage but in a week or so I will explain why I needed to meet with Frnk Walker and not simply write a letter.
I understand your frustrations but please stick with me on this one and all will be revealed in due course.
I am not lying, I have always spoken the truth and soon you will understand what I am saying.
Simon
Not only does your credibiltiy go down with your what appears to be stubborness, but quite frankly, some of the comments made by your followers, not just on here, but on other blogs do you more damage than good.
Yes, there is a small group of people who are on your side and support you, but believe me, out there in the real world, the opinion by the majority is very different.
I'm afraid you, Syvret and some of the other blog writers are getting very damaging reputations for yourself.
I am not sure how you think this could help.
Pindown. A total of at least 132 children, aged nine and upwards, experienced what came to be called ‘pindown’ in a number of Leicestershire children’s homes between 1983 and 1989. ‘Pindown’ was little short of a system of solitary confinement for large periods of time. It varied in length but did last, in one instance, up to 84 continuous days. It was punishment for such activities as running away from care or school, petty theft, bullying and threats of violence. It exhibited “the worst elements of institutional control: baths on admission, special clothing, strict routine, segregation and isolation, humiliation, and inappropriate bed times” (Levy and Kahan, 1991: 167). The social workers involved even wrote down, in detail, how their system operated. When you read through the report, it becomes clear that the ringleaders were clearly proud of what they were doing.
Google
Pindown
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Pindown was a method of discipline used in children's homes in Staffordshire in the 1980s.
Pindown was named after the notion that it would "pin down the problem" relating to a particular "difficult" child.
It involved locking children in rooms called "pindown rooms", sometimes for periods of weeks or months.
An inquiry into the practice, "The Pindown Inquiry", held in 1990/1991 and chaired by Allan Levy QC. It took 75 days of evidence from 153 witnesses, and examined about 150,000 pages of documents including 400 log books of events in children’s homes. A 300 page report was produced after almost a year.
The report's findings were that the practice was decisively outside anything that could properly be considered as good childcare practice. In the view of the inquiry it was an unethical, unprofessional and unacceptable practice, and unlawful.
[edit] References
Levy, A. & B. Kahan, (1991) "The Pindown Experience and the Protection of Children: The Report of the Staffordshire Child Care Inquiry" Staffordshire County Council.
"Finally, I cannot say too much at this stage but in a week or so I will explain why I needed to meet with Frank Walker and not simply write a letter."
Simon, you did tell us that you wanted to show Frank Walker something, so please don't feel pressurised into revealing what that is in order to justify yourself to those who are critical of you. You're in my prayers, that God will protect you, and also reveal the right information to you. Keep going please, let the criticism run off you like water off a duck's back. It's brilliant what you're doing, it's brilliant for all institutional abuse survivors, those in Jersey and also those on the mainland, and I think you're great.
Zoompad
"Pindown was a method of discipline used in children's homes in Staffordshire in the 1980s."
It was in use all through the 1970's as well, not just in Staffordshire but all over the UK.
Zoompad
The letter from Senator Shenton states that his report was written to correct any misunderstanding and confusion regarding Grand Prix and Greenfields.
This is the most mischievous and misleading epistle in the whole sorry affair, it states that it presents the truth
I beg to differ;
THE FACTS
Grand Prix is a euphemism for Pin down which was an abusive regime banned in the UK since the early nineties.
The Howard League have condemned it
Williamson has condemned it with the proviso that he as unsure that it did take place
Kathy Bull Report recommended a therapeutic and behaviour management approach.
THE FACTS
Senator Shenton states that it did take place at Les Chenes, that it was necessary, and that it worked!!!!
Of course it worked after a fashion, if a child is locked in a room on their own then they cannot abscond, they cannot attack others and if the room has little or no furniture of possessions it cannot be trashed.
The challenging behaviour is contained but it is not changed this is a short term fix not a long term solution.
The majority of children admitted to a secure unit are at the far end of the spectrum when it comes to emotional and behavioural problems. They suffer from a range of mental health problems, such as depression, post traumatic distress disorder, communication difficulties, conduct disorders, substance misuse. Long periods of isolation are the last thing that they need. They have had a lot of experience of punishment and it does not work, check it out on the internet
In her report Kathy Bull goes into this element in great detail and recommends a therapeutic response by a skilled workforce.
FACT ;THE BOTTOM LINE
Grand Prix regime should NEVER have been introduced at ANY TIME, in ANY Facility, in ANY form
The letter and report by Senator Shenton is an attempt to defend the indefensible all it succeeds in doing is shifting the responsibility from where it truly lies with the politicians and senior management who allowed this regime to operate over a period of years.
Time4change have organised a ballot in the Royal Square from 1-2pm on Monday 8th to allow the public to have their say on Chief Minister. There will be a ballot and the public will be able to vote for any of the candidates or 'none of the above'. The results will be announced by 2pm.
Be there and tell your friends!
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20081203/video/vuk-child-abuse-unreported-in-rich-count-49bfa63.html
This has just gone on the news- are we included?
Simon.
"my say" on the rag in case they don't publish it.
Do you think the difficulty in recruiting staff from the mainland might have something to do with the way Simon Bellwood was treated for trying to protect our children?
From here. http://www.thisisjersey.com/2008/12/03/childcare-in-crisis/#comment-12552
Thanks.
Bridget Laing
Simon Bellwood has offered to meet with Frank Walker on a number of occasions with vital evidence on child abuse in Jersey only to be turned down.
The evidence could relate to other senior civil servants and their activities in relation to that abuse making it imperative that Mr Walker meets with Simon to recieve this evidence as it could be comprimised if others have access to the evidence.
Mr Walker is I feel letting the victims down as he has in the past by his stand and he may not want to know whats in the evidence as it will bring him directly into the case when it comes to court.
If he does not see this evidence he can them claim he knew nothing about it and what the evidence contains.
I will introduce a private members bill and questions related to this when next in the house of parliament.
Childcare in crisis
Child abuse unreported in rich countries
Pin down was being used not all that long ago at Greenfields as I know a young girl it happened to.
Why when people critisise both you and Stuart Syvret they can only talk of personal attacks and do not see the bigger issue of a Government failing so destructivly the children it is supposed to protect and breaking the law whilst doing so. How can an ordinary person be expected to respect the law when 'they' break it with no-one being held accountable?
in response to voice for children
most social workers read community care magazine, the treatment of Simon Bellwood has been extensively
covered,and there are links to Jersey blogs.That is how I first became aware of the situation
Simon
You may need to explain who Bridget Laing is!
Pindown on Wikipedia
full text on child abuse from the Lancet
Does Simon have to explain who you are???
Oh he can't can your a nony mouse arn't you
Abuse minister silent on staff involvement
Bridget Laing is a fictional character in a TV series 'The Courtroom' see link below for ref.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0549757/
A bit ironic really as many of the wild accusations and statements posted in this site are also fiction.
Pindown wasn't fiction. I was there. I have my documentation to prove it!
So there is only one Bridget Laing in the world now and she is a fictional character.
Obviously the poster who has written this is somewhat of a fan of fiction or they have Google at their disposal Shock horror and surprise!!!
Oh they seem to be saying that the facts that have been uncovered in Jersey are fiction too>
I find that very odds considering many on the facts have vast amounts of evidence to substantiate them.
Attempting to prove a negative which is what some think they can do is not the easiest thing to do!!! However proving a positive is the easy thing to do unless you’re a hopeless Muppet of course
Dear Zoompad,
do you feel able to describe what it is like to experience pindown,it might shut up those critics who seem to think that the end justifies the means.
Your courage and determination are an inpiration
Pindown a.k.a Grand Prix
(Levy and Kahan, 1991: 167). The social workers involved even wrote down, in detail, how their system operated. When you read through the report, it becomes clear that the ringleaders were clearly proud of what they were doing.
Ring any bells?
you
can run but you can't hide
Most of us talk the truth but are anonymous because we are scared of loosing our jobs and having our cards marked permanently. We
The author of the Bridget Laing comment makes up some rubbish but hasn't got the guts to say who he or she is.
This speaks volumes about Jersey.
Sorry for not posting a blog in the last few days.
I have been busy at work and have not been home until late each evening.
I promise to post one tomorrow night on Shenton and the Truth about the Grand Prix.
Thanks
Simon
I wonder where the two young lads are who climbed to the roof of Les Chenes, they must be grown up now.I would love to know why they climbed on the roof and what they thought of the police in riot gear
Yes, I'll be very glad to describe what it was like to be put into a children's prison at the age of 13/14. I'm not exactly sure how old I was - I did think I was 13, but now I have managed to obtain my records, which have been very crudly altered, I think I had just turned 14. I did complain to the police about my medical records being altered, I asked the police if this was a criminal offence, but I was told that it was not a criminal offence. I'm very piuzzled about that, as I would have thought that it would be a criminal offence to alter a person's medical records. I expect they were altered in an attempt to cover up the abuse, but it has been done in such a crude way by a complete nincompoop - someone has actually written in my records that I had consensual sexual intercourse at the age of 11. I know other people who have complained that their medical records have been altered to cover up abuse.
Remember that I was not sexually abused at that place. Others were - I escaped that fate because I went beserk when the man in charge thumped me and they locked me in a cell and I wouldn't let any of them in so they sent me to the psychiatric hospital. So although it was like hell for me, that is how it felt to me, I feel that there are other people who suffered far more than I did, because they were also sexually abused. I feel like in a way I don't have any right to tell what happened to me, because I didn't suffer the terrible abuse that other people did - I didn't get put into a cold bath or anything like that. But it still caused me to have mental health problems for most of my life. Nobody has ever apologised, you see, they have just tried to airbrush it away, and it hurts when people do that. It makes you feel like you are losing your mind, as if it didn't really happen - but you KNOW it happened, but everyone expects you to pretend that it didn't. It's the mental torment that hurts the most. The sexual and physical abuse I suffered was nothing compared to the mind games they have played with me.
I felt like my heart was going to break. I just felt this band of pain round my chest, all I wanted to do was crawl away somewhere and cry. It was dark and dingy at the Wissage, and once my social worker had left there were no kind faces. The woman had a really nasty looking face, whe didn't shout but she talked in a really nasty hard way and the man was like a thug. I wasn't there because I had committed any crime, but because I had had a crime committed against me - I'd been sexually abused from the age of 11, NOT consensual!!!I wanted someone to be kind and give me some love, I didn't want to be put in a prison.
The first thing I remember was the concrete yard with a basketball stand. The netting fence was very high, it looked like a prison yard. The social worker took me into a dark dining room - I don't know if it had windows or if the curtains were drawn, but it was just really dark in that room. There was a young boy in short trousers standing on one of the tables. I remember him so well, because he had skinny little legs and looked really scared. My social worker left me to go somewhere, and I felt really shy because I didn't know anyone, but this boy was just stood on the table and I wondered why he was standing on the table. I didn't like it in there. I wanted to ask someone why the boy was on the table but I was too shy because I didn't know anyone and I didn't want to be there. I just felt really horrible inside of me. I wanted someone to be kind to me and I felt like I was being punished and I didn't even know why. I couldn't work out what I'd done wrong, and there was a boy on the table who looked really scared. I'm an adult now, and I still feel those feelings that I felt, some people say that children can pick up bad vibes. I didn't know then what I now know about that place, but I could sense that something really evil was there. I'm sorry if this sounds like mumbo jumbo. I don't think I can write any more about this tonight because it makes me feel sick thinking about that boy. The man was making the boys change into shorts and slippering them for pervert pleasure, and he had names for the slippers, Boris and Percy, and I think the boy may have been one of his victims. I can't get the boy's face out of my memory, I don't know who he was or what happened to him but I felt really sad about him being on the table and I feel guilty that I didn't get him off the table. I didn't know about the abuse at that point, but I was just really frightened, I knew something was really wrong with that place.
I'm sorry but I can't do any more tonight.
Zoompad
i have just read your comment, zoompad. It must have been so awful, but the fact is that you did care about other people, even as a small child yourself. you are an inspiration and i am so pleased there are people in the world like you.
simon, i have been very busy but will try and write a little today. keep up the good work!
Zoompad,
It may not be an offence to alter your medical records BUT the fact that they were altered may be evidence to support other criminal offences.
I hope that makes sense.
Top cop drafted into Jersey probe
Jersey
police chief faces inquiry
Simon,
you don't have to prove anything
their lies are so transparent
enjoy your wine
Post a Comment