Bishop of Rochester Extends Inquiry into Abuse at Girls’ Home, Kendall House in Pelham Road, Gravesend

By Tom Acrestacres
Kent Online
September 1, 2016

http://www.kentonline.co.uk/gravesend/news/bishop-extends-inquiry-into-abuse-101757/

An inquiry into child abuse at a Church of England home for young girls is to be extended.

The Rt Rev James Langstaff, Bishop of Rochester, commissioned a review into Kendall House in Pelham Road, Gravesend, last year and the results were released last month.

An expert panel chaired by Sue Proctor, who also led the investigation into matters connected to disgraced DJ Jimmy Savile, compiled a harrowing 137-page report documenting more than three decades of cruelty at the home.

Former residents provided memories and evidence, but the review will now be extended to provide an opportunity for those who did not take part to share their experiences.

Dr Proctor said: “The review panel welcome this extension and would like to encourage any former residents from Kendall House who as yet have felt unable to talk to us to get in touch.

“We will be glad to meet them, and listen to their accounts in confidence.”

Alongside Dr Proctor on the panel are part-time judge Samantha Cohen and former police detective superintendent Ray Galloway, who also worked on the Savile investigation.

Their initial report on Kendall House, which opened in 1947 as a home for young girls under the dioceses of Rochester and Canterbury, revealed it to be “a frightening, violent and unpredictable place to live”.

It also stated that “control, containment and sometimes cruelty” became “normalised” at the home, and that young girls were robbed “of their individuality, of hope, and in some cases their liberty.”

Campaigner Teresa Cooper spent years fighting for the review and last month said “some justice had been served” by its findings

However, she did not take part due to a dispute over the terms of reference.

She is also pursuing another legal claim against the church in a bid to secure damages for up to 25 children who it is claimed suffered as a result of drug use at Kendall House.

Ms Cooper’s daughter Sarah, 23, was born with a cleft palate. Her two sons and grandchild also have serious health issues.

Responding to news of the extension, she said: “I am shocked because I did not know that it was going ahead. They have been liaising with my solicitor for a couple of weeks and we didn’t know.

“How are women meant to take part if they don’t know? My solicitor represents several of us that didn’t take part in the first place and we have not had it confirmed to us with only a few days left before it starts.”

Contact: Acrestacres@thekmgroup.co.uk