Of a Childrens Home and its secrets. Unless youve lived it, you cant try to fathom what went on in that place. A place meant to be a safe haven, but where children lived in fear. He would hold you down, shed belt you, or shed hold you down, and hed belt you. And where the clerical collar provided the perfect cover for years of child abuse. There was no point struggling orfighting. It became part and parcel of life. Failed by the Christian Charity charged with their care. Can i ask you whether you feel ashamed 7 i think it was a very dark time in the societys history. This is the story of the children of lagarie. This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting. Ive been a reporter for more than 20 years, and ive done a lot of harrowing investigations. For years, weve been learning the scale on which children were abused in scotland. Enquiries here and in the rest of the uk are under way, piecing together the dark secrets of our institutions. But in rhu, argyll, an idyllic village by the water, a story has been waiting to surface. Youve probably never heard of lagarie Childrens Home, but between 1949 and 82, hundreds of children were sent to live here. They were the children of seafarers, taken in by the Sailors Society, a Christian Charity supporting the families of men working at sea. Every one of these children needs care, needs love, and that is what they receive at rhu. This grand old house and its grounds were supposed to be a sanctuary. For many of the children, it was anything but. One of them was roddy austin. His father was at sea when he was sent to lagarie as a toddler. Im roddy austin. I was in lagarie between 60, 61 and december 67. My very first day in lagarie, i was three. And there was a white haired lady sitting at a great big table. And to me, she was a granny, and i ran up, shouting, granny, granny and the next thing i knew, i was flying across the floor after she belted me across the face. She then stood over me, and thats the nightmare i had for years, telling me, i am matron, not your granny. That was matron anne miller. She was the boss, for want of a better word. My name is philip donald, and i was in lagarie home forjust over two and a half years. My dads job was a Merchant Navy seaman, and we got put down in that home because me mum and dad had split up. And it all started from there. The matron used to pull me by me ears. I heard the cold bath getting filled up right to the brim. She picked me up by me ears, threw me in a cold bath, soap on her fingers, put my head back, and put her fingers down me throat. So i was choking all the time. To the outside world, this was anne miller, a saintly christian devoted to the care and welfare of these children. But roddy, pictured here at anne millers feet, tells a different story. She was immaculate, and she was evil. My worst ever experience was a beating. She sent us all upstairs to get into our pyjamas and dressing gowns. I could not find my dressing gown cord. So the next thing, the dressing gown is off me, my pyjamas are off me, then she reached under and grabbed a stick, and she beat me. She beat the living daylights out of me that night. Iwas. I was only eight year old. She maybe thought i was cheeky or something. But i was only a wee boy. And. She just put me in a corner, naked, and if i wet myself, shed. Cold bath again, and fingers down me throat, same procedure. And i was. I was absolutely petrified. Thats why i wanted to get away from there. Philips social work records show he tried to escape, even fleeing naked from the home on one occasion. It seems no one thought to ask him why. What happened, philip, when you tried to run away . It wasnt just the matron philip was running from. He says miller would take him to lagaries gardener, norman skelton. It was like a long shed. So the matron would take you out there and leave you . Yeah. And i knew what was going to come, but ijust started crying and crying. And the gardener would. Tell me to touch him. Which i didnt want to do. And he told me to touch myself, and hed be looking. And then. After that, he would. Bend me over the bench. He raped me, yes. Constantly, over and over again. Otherformer residents, including roddy austin, told us about sexual abuse by skelton. We couldnt put this to him. He died in 1999. Anne millers tenure ended in 1970, when she retired. We couldnt ask her about her alleged crimes, either, because shes now dead. But who took over, and would the children be any safer under their watch . The library at nearby helensburgh is a window into the history of the area, and of the home. 0k, well, what weve got here. Are decades and decades. Of helensburgh advertisers, the local newspaper. It was the Sailors Societys responsibility to find the right people to look after this home, with as many as a0 children living there at a time, many of whom were already in vulnerable situations. And this couple is who they chose. The rev William Barrie and his wife mary took over the home in 1972. Here in the archives, we see mrs barrie entertaining royalty on a visit to lagarie. She appeared to be the model matron. Im Angela Montgomery, and i was at lagarie for eight years. Everyone treated mrs barrie like the queen bee. I suppose they got the impression that, wow, this is a lovely woman, in charge of these kids. The minute you go back to lagarie, the mask would slip, and she was absolutely horrible. I remember one time, her pulling me along a corridor by the hair, and i remember trying to pull on her wrists to lessen the weight. I thought i was going to be scalped. My names ewen macdonald. I was in lagarie Childrens Home. I was in for about ten years. It was a christian system you had to live by. You say, damn, or, god, the word god seemed to annoy them, you know, the carbolic soap, open your mouth, wash it out. You wet the bed, you got the bedsheets rubbed in your face, you Say Something out of place, youd get slapped, or mr barrie would hold you down and shed belt you, or shed hold you down, and hed belt you. You just have to survive. With Angela Montgomery at the home were her sisters, mary and norma. Their mother died young, and their father was at sea. Mr barrie used to visit them at night, and at first, it was comforting. It felt like a dad coming in to kiss you goodnight, so there was no alarm felt at that particular time. But he came in one day and said, no, youre not kissing me properly. I remember when i eventually did give him a full blown kiss, after he forced me, i went and told norma and mary, and they said, och, well, weve been doing that for ages. And so we used to then make fun of him, saying, 0h, hes disgusting, dirty old bugger, and laugh about it. And then after a while, it got really serious, and. So. It was no longer a laughing matter. And so, none of the girls. None of the girls then spoke about it. Erm. I want to know more about the barries. Eventually, i tracked down someone who worked for them. Just about to go and knock on the door of someone called anne munro. Anne was 17 when the barries gave her a job at lagarie. What did you see . She used to shout in their faces, go right up and shout in their faces, you know . And. 0h. A wee three year old girl. She was leathered if she wet herself. Three years of age. And she had quite a few leatherings in the one day, and, i see iwas there when she done it. It was terrible to watch, and the wee girl, she was screaming the place down. Did you want to intervene . Mr barrie. You knew he was going into the girls rooms . A few of the girls had said he was coming into their rooms, but nobody said, you know, what he was up to. I remember one night hed woken me up, and he told me to come into the hall. And he took my hand, and he led me into the laundry room. And then he unzipped his trousers, and then. And then he shoved me onto the. Onto my knees, and. And i dont want to say any more. And when he was finished. The barries public standing and lagaries close links to seafarers meant that sailors from the nearby base at faslane would often visit the home. They would come in and some of them were in their uniform, which we thought was quite smart. Sometimes they would come and build things for the children to play on. But ive been told of a visit by a group of sailors in 1976 which was altogether more sinister. My name is dolina davidson. I was raised in childcare at lagarie Childrens Home, from the age of 5 to roughly about 12. The recurring nightmare that i had, on a regular basis one of the dormitories that was in the home, there was about five beds, i believe, and every bed had a girl from the home in it, and in each bed there were men. And the girls were laughing and carrying on and jumping from bed to bed. For a0 years, dolina believed this had beenjust a dream. But her brother ewen knows it wasnt he was there. I was outside playing with my sister, and i came in mr barrie was standing there, the minister, and we just stopped in front of him and his words were, take your sister up to the girls bedroom to show their appreciation to the sailors. At the age of about 11, you didnt know what hes talking about, but. When he raises his voice and says, now and then ijust took my sister by the hand, took her up the back stairs. Went in the girls room. And she just let go and went and joined all the other girls, all in the beds. Some were in under the covers, and ijust instinctively ran and jumped on the beds and joined in, thinking it was great fun and a great time. Ewen and his sister were also seen coming in to the room that day by angela. He had brought dolina in, but. But he left on his own. Did you see what happened with dolina after that . She was. Kissing one of the sai. Well. I mean, one of the sailors was kissing her, but, um. Angela says she and other girls were taken to separate rooms by sailors. It seems mr barrie had allowed this group of men access to children in his care girls all under 16 and dolina only nine. I dont know what happened to my sister in there. I held that in for nearly 40 years. She was having nightmares about sailors, so ijust broke down, and i had to tell her that it was my fault. I took her up to the room. He apologises to me profusely, and now he carries guilt of what was done to me because he was the one that was ordered to take me to the room. And ewen was very young then, too. And i often remind him that he was doing it on the say so of an adult who knew better. The ministry of defence says its unaware of any allegations about lagarie. Mr barrie decided who went in and out of the home, but for the montgomery sisters, it was their encounters with him that were the most troubling. Angela, norma and mary say that during their years at lagarie, they were raped by mr barrie hundreds of times. Angela hed work his way round. In fact, on one occasion, when i was to go out, and mary moaned at me, and she said, well, it is your turn, because i did it last night, and i was thinking, 0k. Just get on with it. So. And after a while, even as unpleasant as it was. Not that you got used to it, you just thought. There was no point struggling orfighting. Um. No. You just. It was a level of acceptance, it became part and parcel of life at lagarie. The Childrens Home is long closed, but the Sailors Society has gone from strength to strength. The queen herself paid tribute to the charity during its 175th anniversary celebrations at its base in southampton. What do they have to say about what weve found . So, the cameras are rolling. 0k. If thats all right. Does your charity accept full and unequivocal responsibility for the abuse that took place at lagarie . Well, let let me first say that that i was horrified when i heard these accounts. We do regret that any abuse happened, and we have apologised unreservedly that this abuse happened. Does your charity take full responsibility for the abuse that took place . I think we have to take some responsibility. I think we, in asking the police to reinvestigate this situation, thats our role in taking responsibility. The Sailors Society was aware of allegations about lagarie as early as 2001. Did your charity uncover the full extent of the abuse when it did its investigation in 2001 . Not necessarily in 2001, but in 2003 4, we were aware of another regime. That, again, that was investigated by police, and unfortunately, the police, in my mind, and i can only go on the information ive read, did not do a thorough investigation. Are you satisfied you did enough back then . No, not at all. Not at all. I think we actually did a disservice to those people. By the time police started investigating in 2001, mr barrie was dead. He will never face justice for his alleged crimes. But others, including mrs barrie, were still alive. Now, we know that survivors of both the barrie and the anne millar regime had come forward by then so, what did the Police Actually do . We know they didnt charge anyone. We dont know if they investigated beyond the main suspect, mr barrie, who was by then dead because if they had, they could have found there was more to this story, much more. Angela was taken from lagarie for weekends away. Mrs barrie took us once in the caravanette. It was just mary and myself, which i thought was kind of nice, just the two of us. And the couple were quite. Quite young. During the day they. They took us to the park, so that was fun, and then got in a big massive bubble bath, it was. Brilliant, and the woman was really nice, she was bathing. Bathing me. Stroking my hair. And she said that i was such. Such a really good girl. And then her husband came in, and i remember, after it was over, she then bathed me again, saying that id been a very good. I had been a very good girl. So, they took us there, and left us there, knowing. What was going to happen. And they did it several times. Other former residents of lagarie, including angelas sister, norma, told us they too were repeatedly abused by people connected to the barries. Patrick mcguire is a lawyer representing some former residents of lagarie in civil cases against the Sailors Society. It is on an entirely different scale from anything else that weve seen. The simple fact is that nobody was looking out for these kids. Since ive been here, you know, there is an approach that is very open to survivors. Ive met with a group of survivors up in manchester, ive spoken with them on the phone. There has been the odd pretence at speaking with people, holding meetings, but the survivors that weve spoken to are clear that theres been no genuine intention to do anything, its a very poor imitation of tea and sympathy. Have you paid anyone any compensation . We, we havent, as yet, paid any compensation. There is a. As you would know, in any of these situations, there is a process to follow, and that process starts with a survivor actually making a claim. Can i ask you whether you feel ashamed about this episode in the Sailors Societys history . I think it was a very dark time in the societys history. You know, i i was horrified by it. I was deeply upset by it. I cant change the past, but i can, you know, make sure that we do things right now. A Second Police investigation, prompted by the Sailors Society, concluded in 2016. Mrs barrie was questioned, but never charged. She died the year after. No charges have ever been brought against anyone for what took place here. Though they missed each other at lagarie by a year, roddy and philip have much in common, and have come back to rhu once more. Roddy. This is philip. Hello, roddy. Hi, philip. Nice to see you. Good to meet you. And you. Would you like a pint . I would love a pint. What would you like . Ill get you a pint. You guys have a seat. How does it feel to be back here . Weird. Horrible. I feel it as well, yeah. I have no good memories of that place. Me neither. All the best. Well, all the best. I hope we. Cheers. Thanks, mark. I hope we stay friends. Yeah, definitely. For many years to come. Yeah, definitely, mate. You all right . Yeah. Just a few days ago, the scottish child abuse inquiry announced it would investigate lagarie. Disclosure will share its evidence with the inquiry team. Meanwhile, for the children who grew up here in rhu, learning to live with the past is a work in progress. It wasnt a nice place. It hurt like hell. But we survived it, and ive just got to try and move on. And youre here today. Aye. Thats a shock im here for my sister and the other girls. As long as theyre ok, ill be ok. Im happy now that i can at least put the jigsaw pieces together and understand part of my past. This is time to get it in the open, for it to be shared and known, because this is our time of healing. Angela theres not a day goes past when something at lagarie doesnt kind of go through my mind at some point, and i have to think, right, 0k, start painting, or do something. Its always there in the background, but i think, no, youre no going to beat me, and ijust, you know, play, sing, or. Smash my tambourine and im thinking about joining a choir, as well. Which is going to be good. A soul choir. So, thats going to be a lot of fun so, ill be busy, busy. Hello there. Weve already seen some big contrasts in the weather north to south through the first half of the weekend and that will continue on into sunday too. Now, this was the scene as we ended the day near leeds. Some clear skies around there. Under those clear skies, it is set to be a fairly chilly rest of tonight. Those temperatures certainly well down in single figures. During the day on sunday, a mix of sunshine and showers for many areas. But there will be some heavy rain and more cloud across the southern half of the uk, and thats all down to the fact that we have got this frontal system shifting its way eastwards across england and wales too. Higher Pressure Holding on towards the north. So, for sunday morning then, initially, a soggy start to the day for much of wales, central and southern england too. To the north of that, though, much clearer skies after that chilly start. Therell be some sunshine and a peppering of showers working in particularly for northern parts of Northern Ireland into the north west of scotland too. Eventually, this rain will start to push towards the south east and its not going to be just heavy rain to contain with, but also, some brisk winds blowing in from the north or the north west. We could see gusts of around 50mph and the English Channel coast for instance. Further north, though, still that breeze coming in from the north, blowing in one or two showers across wales and northern england. But some sunshine in between. The showers moving through quite quickly on that breeze. A similar picture across Northern Ireland. And for the bulk of scotland too, a real day of sunshine and its sunglasses one minute, brollies up the next minute, i think, with those showers moving through, as well. But with that northerly breeze, its not going to feel particularly warm. Temperatures at best only around about 11 to 15 degrees for the rest of us. Could be that little bit warmerjust down towards the channel isles. Now, later on sunday, eventually we will lose the wet weather from the south east, then most places are largely dry as we end the day. Just still one or two showers continuing in the north. But under those clearer skies, its going to be a chilly night, chilly first thing monday, but High Pressure moving in, so that should quieten things down as we start the new working week after that fairly chilly start to monday. Should be some sunshine for many of us. An improved day, particularly in the south after a pretty soggy weekend. More sunshine. Still a few showers on the map, especially for parts of northern and western scotland, but under those lighter winds with a bit more sunshihne, temperatures should start to creep up a little bit. So, were looking at highs for most places around 1a to 17 degrees or so. Then heading on into tuesday then, a largely dry day once again with some sunshine, fairly light winds. More rain, though, works into the north west later in the day. So this is another approaching frontal system. Some rain for Northern Ireland and scotland later on. Further south, though, a brighter picture and top temperatures around about 16 or 17 degrees. Bye for now. This is bbc news. Im reged ahmad. Our top stories Christine Blasey ford, the woman whos accused Us Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, has agreed to testify against him next week. The end of a dramatic battle for control. Americas biggest cable network, comcast, submits a 40 billion winning bid for british Broadcaster Sky ending a dramatic two year battle with 21st century fox. As irans president promises a crushing response after 29 people are killed at a military parade, tehran accuses britain, the netherlands, and denmark of harbouring opposition groups. 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