Scots orphans used in ‘military experiments’, Ringleader in FAMU Hazing Death Sentenced to 6 Years, Children 'washed in toilets' at Birmingham care home, 'endemic child abuse’ St. Helena

- Scots orphans used in ‘military experiments’
- Ringleader in FAMU Hazing Death Sentenced to 6 Years
- Children 'washed in toilets' at Birmingham care home
- Foreign Office ‘lied over endemic child abuse’ St. Helena



Scots orphans used in ‘military experiments’
HOLYROOD’S child abuse inquiry will hear claims that British military scientists conducted drug tests on orphans in Scottish mental hospitals.  By Ben Borland Sun, December 21, 2014

The allegations centre on at least four institutions where thousands of children are said to have been experimented upon in conditions described as “like something out of Auschwitz”.

It is alleged that Porton Down, the top secret military facility in Wiltshire, was involved in trialling drugs for use in the Cold War on youngsters who were regarded as “feeble-minded”.

One survivor told this newspaper he has obtained written and video evidence that he will pass to the public inquiry into historical abuse of children in care when it begins next year.

The man, now in his 50s, has been advised by lawyers to conceal his identity for his own safety until his full submission can be lodged at the inquiry announced by Scottish Education Secretary Angela Constance.

However, he was willing to divulge some of his intended testimony about the treatment he and others suffered.

He said: “Six and seven year olds were tied to racks and given electric shocks.
"I was incarcerated with orderlies armed with rubber coshes.
"We were imprisoned, experimented upon, lobotomies, you name it, they did it.
“I was there, I saw it with my own eyes.
We were imprisoned, experimented upon, lobotomies, you name it, they did it....
 
Lennox Castle Hospital, near Lennoxtown, East Dunbartonshire, is one of four Scottish institutions alleged to have been involved.

The witness believes there may have been as many as 3,500 children who were involved in the Porton Down testing programme over the years.

He said: “They were using orphans to experiment with drugs for the Cold War. 
"The drug programme ran from 1948 to 1982.
"I believe this happened throughout the UK but I’m referring to Scotland.
“I have this evidence, on paper and on film, and I will hand it to the public inquiry.

....Six years ago hundreds of veterans who ‘volunteered’ to take part in tests at Porton Down were offered £3million in compensation.

They were exposed to nerve agents, such as sarin gas, and hallucinogens, such as LSD.

In the most infamous case, from 1953, Ronald Maddison took part in a trial of what he believed was a cold remedy, but died within an hour of having sarin dabbed on his arm.

Other Porton Down experiments included spraying bacteria over the south coast of England and dropping cancer-causing particles from planes.

And Gruinard Island in Wester Ross had to be sealed off for almost 50 years after it was contaminated with anthrax during the Second World War.

Porton Down is the home of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, an agency of the Ministry of Defence.

A spokeswoman said: “We are not aware of any tests involving children at Portown Down and have seen absolutely no evidence to back up these claims.”
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/548129/Holyrood-child-abuse-inquiry-Scottish-orphans-military-experiments

Ringleader in FAMU Hazing Death Sentenced to 6 Years
Friday, January 9, 2015 Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A former Florida A&M University band member has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for manslaughter and felony hazing in the death of a drum major.

Dante Martin becomes the first of 15 former band members charged to receive prison time....

Martin was convicted in October during a trial in which prosecutors said he was the ringleader of the ritual.

He was the first to stand trial in the 2011 death of Champion, who was from Decatur, Georgia.

The case brought into focus the culture of hazing in the band.
http://www.wtxl.com/news/ringleader-in-famu-hazing-death-sentenced-to-years/article_5af50e08-985c-11e4-99e7-bf15d5052dc5.html


Children 'washed in toilets' at Birmingham care home
By David Lumb BBC News, West Midlands  5 January 2015

Ex-residents of a children's home have described being beaten, made to wash in toilet water and sleep on floors.

Up to eight people reported cruelty at St Athan Croft in Castle Vale, Birmingham, dating back to the 1970s and 80s, the BBC understands.

In February 2014 police began investigating claims against former live-in house parents Patricia and James Connolly.

However, officers could not take action because the couple are dead.

One former resident said she was one of about 16 children living in three rooms at the home.

The woman, who was at St Athan Croft in the mid-70s and stayed until she was aged 13, told the BBC children were regularly beaten, hit with sticks and thrown in cold water in the early hours of the morning as punishments....
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-27710630


Foreign Office ‘lied over endemic child abuse’
Tom Harper, Home Affairs Correspondent  4 January 2015
Martin Warsama says sexual exploitation of children is widespread on St Helena

THE FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH OFFICE (FCO) has been accused of lying to the UN over “endemic” child sex abuse in the British overseas territory of St Helena to cover up allegations, one of which was that a police officer raped a four-year-old girl.

Child protection whistleblowers who worked on the remote South Atlantic island are now suing the FCO and the Department for International Development, claiming that civil servants suppressed the reality of life on St Helena.

A draft report on their allegations, commissioned by the government, found the island of 4,000 people, which relies on a £20m annual grant from Whitehall, had a “persistent” culture of abusing teenage girls and a “cultural acceptance of the premature sexualisation of children”. Girls were subjected to “violent and brutal” attacks....
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/National/article1503018.ece