Raab Refuses Inquiry Into Abuse Of Boys In Detention

More than 2,000 victims have come forward from a single facility – Medomsley in County Durham – and many more have reported mistreatment at centres across England during the same period. Several were raped and sexually abused by guards as children, and although several men have been prosecuted, survivors say the full extent of the horrors they suffered has not been properly investigated.

A group of survivors have now launched legal action over the justice secretary’s refusal to mount a public inquiry, which campaigners say is necessary to examine alleged cover-ups and collusion. Claimants argue that Mr Raab’s decision was legally “irrational” and violates obligations under human rights laws, including the freedom from torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.

Dozens of men have contacted The Independent about mistreatment at centres as far apart as Kent, Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire, including physical beatings, cruel punishments and sexual and emotional abuse.

John McCabe, who was targeted by prolific paedophile Neville Husband at Medomsley Detention Centre, has been fighting for an inquiry for over a decade and raised his case with successive Conservative governments. “I think there are still more victims out there,” he told The Independent. “Husband was a prison officer and there are people who haven’t been held to account. The governors have never stood in a dock, never been questioned.”

Mr McCabe said Britain must learn about what led to such extensive abuse, and why it took so long to be uncovered, adding: “If we get to hear these people at an inquiry, we’ll learn how it happened and it will never happen again.”