| SPOTLIGHT |
A law firm has urged former pupils of a school where they may have suffered abuse to come forward in a case against Lincolnshire County Council.
Andrew Grove & Co in a local newspaper article that a former pupil of the now closed Stubton Hall School for vulnerable children had suffered physical and sexual abuse by deputy headteacher David Taylor who last July was imprisoned for 19 years and six months after being convicted of three counts of rape and four counts of indecent assault against five girls at the school, where he worked between 1975 and 1995.
Another former staff member, Raymond Longley, was also convicted of sexually abusing girls at the school and was imprisoned for four years.
Andrew Grove said 26 former pupils had contacted it over a civil lawsuit against Lincolnshire County Council which owned and ran the school but as many as 400 could be affected.
Solicitor Katherine Yates said: “We are taking statements from witnesses and claimants to get a clearer idea of what was going on at Stubton Hall School.
“What we are being told is quite horrific and it is hard to believe that this level of sexual and physical abuse was going on in the relatively recent past.”
She said all claims would be on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis and that successful claimants would be entitled to compensation, access to therapists and help with employment and training.
Heather Sandy, Lincolnshire’s executive director for children’s services, said: “LCC expresses deep regret over the abuse suffered by the victims in this case.
“We wish to apologise to the victims and are pleased that justice has been done through the convictions in the criminal case. We hope that this brings some comfort and closure to the victims.
“We are unable to comment further regarding potential legal claims.”
