UNITED KINGDOM
Evening Mail
The “scale and severity” of physical abuse against young men, allegedly carried out by a former colleague of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was “horrific” a 1982 report found.
A series of accusations have been levelled against John Smyth, a former leader at the Iwerne Trust camps, which had close links with the Church of England.
It is where Justin Welby worked as a dormitory officer in the late 1970s, but he has insisted he was “completely unaware” of the allegations at the time.
They have come to light following a six-month Channel 4 News investigation into the prominent QC and part-time judge, who is now based in South Africa.
The Iwerne Trust, which oversaw the Christian camps, was made aware of the allegations after a young university student tried to commit suicide, Channel 4 News said.
It led to a report being complied in 1982, which states that Mr Smyth is believed to have beaten 22 young men, and that despite this they failed to tell the police about the abuse.
Channel 4 News said the report states: “The scale and severity of the practice was horrific.
“The other eight received about 14,000 strokes – two of them having some 8,000 strokes over the three years.”
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