Compensation Scheme 'the Right Thing' for Jersey Children's Home Abuse Victims

MANCHESTER, England, March 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

A solicitor representing over half of the victims of child abuse at children's homes in Jersey has welcomed the announcement the States of Jersey is to implement a four band tariff based compensation scheme for those who suffered at the hands of their abusers. Victims will to receive up to £60,000 in compensation, dependent upon the severity of the abuse.

Alan Collins, a partner and specialist in child abuse cases at law firm Pannone, represents 43 victims, and has fought over the last four years for their right to be compensated. Commenting he said, "No amount of compensation can ever put right what these children endured, but no matter how imperfect the means to achieve justice, what matters is the fact that the States of Jersey has recognised the need to do the right thing."

Four years ago eyes of the international media fell upon Jersey and the criminal investigation in to child abuse allegations. The spotlight fell on the Haut de La Garenne children's home and how over decades abuse was meted out on a regular basis. A number of abusers were subsequently successfully prosecuted for the abuse they had inflicted on vulnerable children, but as Jersey's former Lieutenant Governor put it, "The needs of the victims were forgotten."

The victims have endured a long and lonely fight for justice and have met with hostility and disbelief along the way. There has though also been considerable support and understanding, in particular from the islanders themselves.

Said Alan Collins, "The victims have been driven by a need for recognition. Many of them had been placed at Haut de la Garenne (and other homes on Jersey) through no fault of their own, often because of tragic family circumstances, only to endure often harsh conditions, deliberate cruelty and sexual abuse. They had no one to turn to. Those who were supposedly caring for them either abused or were complicit. It is recognised that a pernicious fruit of child abuse is silence and as we now know, this enabled the abusive conditions at Haut de la Garenne to go unchecked for decades. The victims wanted Jersey and the wider world to know the truth about what they endured. For them, this has not been about compensation claims but about justice.

"We now know what happened and it is only through the courage of the victims coming forward and being prepared to stand-up in court and give evidence that this has been possible. It must also be recognised that the States of Jersey Police had the immense challenge of investigating serious and challenging allegations and it is to its credit that there were successful prosecutions. If this had not been so the victims' plight would have remained hidden."

Mr Collins also applauded the existence of the scheme because it takes the victims' fight away from the courts. Last year proceedings were commenced in the High Court in London because the victims concluded that this was the only way they would ever get justice. The taking of proceedings, said Alan Collins, "Was forced upon the victims because they had no where else to go. There had been so many false dawns, but we could not give up. The scheme is a non-adversarial method of addressing the victims' cases. A fight in the courts would I am sure have been corrosive for all, what we have now is a way of hopefully bringing some kind of closure for those who suffered appalling abuse."