UNITED KINGDOM
BBC News

By Nic Rigby
BBC News

Three ex-residents of a former Catholic orphanage have spoken out about their “brutal” treatment at the hands of a priest, who is at the centre of a police investigation.

The men were residents at St Francis Boys Home, in Shefford, near Bedford, in the 1950s and 1960s.

The three allege physical abuse by Father John Ryan, who died in 2008.

The Catholic church says it “deeply regrets” any hurt caused, but stresses the “claims are not proven”.

The home, which closed in 1974, was run by the Catholic Diocese of Northampton.