SCOTLAND
Scotsman
CHRIS MARSHALL
The head of a religious order which ran a controversial children’s home has described allegations of abuse as a “mystery”.
Sister Ellen Flynn, leader of the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul in Great Britain, told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry her congregation could find “no evidence” of abuse taking place at Smyllum Park in Lanark, South Lanarkshire.
The inquiry, led by Lady Smith, heard more than 4,000 children passed through the home between 1930 and its closure in 1981.
Former residents have alleged the sisters administered severe beatings at Smyllum, where the bodies of up to 100 orphans lie in an unmarked grave.
Asked by Colin MacAulay QC, the senior counsel to the inquiry, if she accepted children had been abused at Smyllum, Sr Flynn said: “The first view is that we are extremely saddened that accusations were made. We are very apologetic, but in our records we can find no evidence or anything that substantiates the allegations.”
Asked what her reaction would be if the allegations were proved to be true, she said: “If true, it tells us there was a systemic failure, but we have no evidence there was.”
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