Danesbury School abuse
The Hertfordshire press have today reported on two of our clients who are suing Hertfordshire County Council for the suffering they underwent as victims of alleged sexual abuse, carried out by a deputy head teacher when they were former pupils of Danesbury School in Bengeo, Hertford.
Police have confirmed allegations were made about Malcolm Hill, former deputy head teacher at the now non-operational school between 2009 and 2012, but the force failed to gather sufficient evidence to make an arrest.
Closure
Speaking to the Hertfordshire press about the Danesbury School abuse, one man, who cannot be named for legal reasons spoke about his experiences of abuse at the hands of Malcolm Hill. Commenting, the man who is now in his 50s was sent to Danesbury when he was 12 because of a court ruling that his mother was not capable of looking of after him, said: “There is no doubt my childhood ended when I went there. It lives with me every single day. It’s messed me up completely. I suffer from serious bouts of depression and post-traumatic stress whenever I have to talk about it again. We used to run away all the time and nobody used to ask us why. Perhaps if I get some sort of closure, I might be able to in the future. I want to get rid of this, I want to be able to enjoy my life, and I want to be a better person.”
Deborah Corcoran, who is handling the case, said: “The clients I represent have suffered immensely over the years as a result of what Malcolm Hill did to them. Allegations about Hill in the 90s appear not to have been properly looked into.”
Information
Anyone who has any information about Malcolm Hill and Danesbury school should contact Deborah Corcoran, solicitor, at Simpson Millar on 0345 357 9200.
To read more in the Hertfordshire press click here.
If you think you may have a claim for abuse compensation and want more information try our free legal help page here. For a copy of our abuse guide click here.
We work with and support a number of survivor groups, if you have experienced abuse and would like to talk to someone in confidence you can find their details on our Links page.
I simply wish to state that after being forced to remain in danesbury approved school bengeo nr Hertford from april 1957 untill oct 16th 1962 that the sort of abuse these people say they have suffered is appalling beyond any words that i have at my disposal. However that kind of abuse is not the only form of abuse by any means, for me it was a dammed hell hole from start to finnish as i was forced to work doing various things from sweeping – polishing wooden floors to hauling a heavy roller up and down the cricket pitch , i was all but drowned in the swimming pool by a master by the name of enoch ,smashed in the face by a delinquent boy called ewing i once caught what was called asian flue and was just put in the sick dormatory and mostly just left there to get on with it for three weeks. i was forced to take part in a school sports day even though they knew that i had a broken toe and was then punnished because ” i had let the school down!!. and so on and so on. it was a disgusting place and i had on and off night mares untill i was approx 30 years old. all i am saying is that there was more than one form of abuse in that dammed place and there was no one there to call on for help.
Thank you very much for you comment Kenneth. I will pass this on to Deborah Corcoran here who launched the appeal. If you would like to contact her direct go to our Team Page http://abuselaw.co.uk//our-team/
I was at Danesbury School from early 1968 until the summer of 1970. & was myself subjected to sexual & mental abuse by the masters! In the last 4 years I have managed to track down severel of the lads who were there at the same time as me,thanks to many internet searches! I remember Mr Hill & just hearing his name brings me to tears,even now 47 years on! Quite by accident I came across the story that the Hertfordshire Mercury published regarding the abuse that took place at Danesbury & I can confirm this is true & perhaps just the tip of the iceberg! Today Monday 2/11/15 I have contacted Abney Garsden solicitors & spoken to a very nice lady ‘Linda.. receptionist,who very kindly told me that she would pass my message on & that I would contacted by them in due course! I thank you for your time.. Mr Peter Morris”
I was in the girls house at Danesbury. The place made me very nervous and there was always a bad feeling about the place. I saw full length worms in a saucepan full of cabbage and I have never been able to understand how the cabbage had been chopped up and the worms had stayed intact.
Would you please get in touch with our Legal Helpline at the phone number at the top of this page – 0800 260 5002 , so that you can be put in touch with a member of the team who is dealing with Danesbury School cases.
The girls House if I remember correctly I think that the girls arrived around 1976/1977) I think. I was there from 1973 until 1978 I don’t have any memories of any abuse though who ever come up with the idear of putting girls and boys of that age together wasn’t thinking properly I mean the girls and boys got on great and if there was any horrible things happening I’m sure somebody girl or boy would have told me though after 1978 I have no idea of anything that happened.
The only thing that went wrong was when I left I had been working at the bottom of port hill at PTFE Fabercation and giving my wages to Mr Gardner who looked after it for me so I wouldn’t go out and get drunk which I would have done but he left about 4 to 6 weeks before me and some other bloke took over and when I left all I got was about 8/10 pounds I admit I thought it was Mr Gardner and even roobed his son Simon a act that I deeply regret but someone took most of my money and I put poor Simon through some bad times But no way was it Mr Gardner he was always so good to me. In fact no member of staff ever did anything iffy or horrible to me which is a surprise as I could be a right little bastard me Shane Gary Oliver Robert Mead and then the girls arrived god knows who thought of that but we loved that.
I WOS AT IHE SCHOOL WHEN IT WAW AN APPROVED SCHOOL, AND AS FAR AS I CAN SAY APART FROM MISSING MY MUM IT WAS SUM OF THE BEST YEARS OF MY CHILDHOOD DAYS.
well mate i remember you very well and many of the others as well , and all i can sincerely say to you is that if you were happy in that place then you must have had a charmed life whilst there and a terrible life prior to being sent there . I only lived about 5 miles from Hertford near to a town called Hoddesdon it was about 25 minutes away on the bus or even less on the train so when we had our Saturday afternoon ” down town “i used to go home on the train for about 3 hours then get back by 5 o clock , then of course my Dad always picked me up on the official visiting days and took me home so at least i had that going for me . also mr Right one of the gardeners used to bring me bits of fishing tackle so that when i got home on leave i could go fishing . i was known as Robbo or Robbie at that place i did once get the cane severely because a pillow case from someones bed got ripped and they said i had done it , i had bruises on the back and all over my arse , the next Saturday was visiting day and my brother in law asked why i was walking so stiffly so i told him what had happened , the next time Mr Easter the head master who beat me went to his Hertford rotary club meeting on Wednesday evenings my brother in law was waiting for him and gave him a belt in the belly and one or two more for good measure and told him if he beat me ever again it would be the last time he ever beat another lad again . and as far as i know he never did up until i left in October 1961, i was also allowed to join the church choir at jack Goultons church in Hertford . I hope your o k and as we used to say well and happy . take care Robbie Robson .
Well I was there from 1973 until 1978 I must have been one of the luckiest blokes around as they always treated me extremely well I remember those blokes who run it Mr Gardner was the head of my house and I thought he was one of the best blokes around considering I was a right sod I was treated ok maybe I was one of the lucky ones.
I was there between 1978 and 1982. I remember Mr Hill and especially his daughter who I had a crush on.
I Played cricket for Little Berkhamsted cricket club colts while I was at Danesbury and I remember Mr Hill taking interest that one of his pupils was playing for such a club. He was a good spin bowler even at his age which must of been about in his 60’s. So I’m horrified in hearing that He was/is suspected of these horrid deeds and my heart goes out to those who suffered at the hands of this man.
While I was there we lost a friend called Steve Jones who passed away at North Middx Hospital. Sad tImes.
Hi, to Colin Walkington , Alan Woolcott, Ken May , Mr Drewit Kevin Twigg and all those in Waton , Maurice and Gibbs unit.
Thank you very much for your response to our article.