Birmingham Care Home Manager Accused of Running 'Prison-Like' Children's Home During Abuse Trial
A care home manager from Birmingham accused of sexually abusing children allegedly ran the home like a prison, a court has heard during a disturbing trial that has revealed decades of alleged cruelty and intimidation.
Jurors at Bradford Crown Court were told that Malcolm Phillips, 92, of Tyseley, Birmingham, presided over a two-decade regime of fear at Skircoat Lodge Care Home in Halifax, West Yorkshire. The allegations include one boy being pulled through a food hatch by his shirt and another being forced to eat his dinner off the floor.
Allegations of Intimidation and Physical Abuse
Former staff members described seeing Phillips slap and manhandle children, while his second-in-command, Linda Brunning, 66, was portrayed as a bully who would sit on the children and deliberately humiliate them. Prosecutors stated that the abuse went unfettered and unreported for almost twenty years, creating a backdrop of legitimacy that allowed the alleged offences to continue.
Jacqueline Tetley, a former support teacher at the home who left in 1990 due to her frustration with the treatment of children, described Phillips as an outwardly intelligent and pleasant man who transformed into a strict and dominant figure ruling by fear when no visitors were present. She testified that he intimidated both residents and staff, leaving many children in constant fear of him.
Detailed Accounts of Cruelty Emerge in Court
In a statement read to the court, Ms Tetley recounted specific incidents of abuse, including:
- Seeing Phillips manhandle children on many occasions, including grabbing them and pushing them against walls in a practice described as 'walling children up'.
- Witnessing Phillips slap a girl who had run away and been returned by police, forcing her arm behind her back and pushing her against a wardrobe door, leaving her with a bloodied nose.
- Observing Brunning use her size to intimidate children by sitting on them and making them stand on landings in bare feet for hours if she heard noise from bedrooms.
Ms Tetley stated that Brunning was once suspended after making a boy eat his tea off the floor and would sometimes punch children or block their home visits. She concluded that children were treated cruelly at Skircoat Lodge, with the home being run more like a prison than a care facility.
Charges and Legal Proceedings
Phillips faces multiple serious charges, including:
- Three counts of indecent assault
- Two counts of indecency with a child
- Three counts of indecent assault on a male person
- Two counts of buggery
- Two counts of rape
Brunning, of Sowerby Bridge near Halifax, is charged with one count of indecent assault on a male person, two counts of aiding and abetting indecent assault, and two counts of aiding and abetting buggery. The trial for Brunning and a trial of facts for Phillips, who has been deemed unfit to stand trial, are currently underway.
The court heard that another former staff member described seeing Phillips pulling a boy through a food hatch by his shirt, further illustrating the alleged pattern of physical abuse that characterised the home's operation under his management.
