Jersey Child Abuse Inquiry (Jean Neal Guest Posting)

As part of our posts, and interviews, with Abuse Survivor Jean Neil We bring readers an update since she gave live evidence to Jersey's Child Abuse Inquiry.

We have supported, and reported, Jean's brave journey since she first made contact with us back in April 2012 where we were the first to break the story of a little known Jersey "care" home (Grouville Girls Home) PUBLISHED HERE.

After VFC broke the story, back in 2012, the State Media were forced to take note and run with it also as PUBLISHED HERE.

As a result of VFC's coverage of Jean's horrific story she has now been able to make contact with a fellow survivor of the home, after 60-plus years, as a direct result of VFC's involvement as PUBLISHED HERE.

Now that Jean has been through the ordeal of giving evidence to the Inquiry, and due to logistics, Team Voice were unable to interview her, we asked if she would consider submitting a Guest Posting instead. She agreed and we are pleased to offer it below.

"A big thank you VFC for all your support through the Blog programme for me as I have gone through these last two or three years having to put my Jersey Child Abuse story to the authorities.

Obviously what you do is a battle because you and some of the good people of Jersey give the truth and is a threat to the Jersey authorities

On the 2nd of September 2014, whilst on holiday in Jersey I spent three and a half hours giving a written statement to the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry also stating that to save the States of Jersey the cost of bringing me over at a later date I asked would it be possible to give my evidence whilst I was in Jersey but I was told they could not do it and they would have to fly me back to Jersey or I could do it via video link at a later date.

I chose to return to Jersey as I had nothing to hide or be ashamed of and would face the court or whatever I had to go through. My abusers are the guilty ones and the Jersey Authorities and the Jersey Welfare that let us all down are equally as guilty.

The enquiry people wanted me to fly over to Jersey on the first flight out from the UK that would have meant I would have had to be up at 4:00am in order to travel to the airport and catch the flight. The enquiry team then wanted to fly me back home the same afternoon after giving my evidence.

I was surprised the team didn’t see how this could be a great burden and stress on my 79-year-old body so I brought it to their attention and was allowed a stopover in Jersey before flying back home.

I came to Jersey on the Wednesday 1st October and gave evidence the following day. I was at the court from about 9.15am being prompted by the lawyer as to what the procedure would be, told I was not to mention any names and that faces in the photographs I had provided as part of my evidence would be blacked out. I must say I did not expect to go through such an ordeal at the age of 79. I felt the ordeal of having to give such personal details to so many strangers was embarrassing to say the least.

On reflecting when I got home I felt although the Lawyer was gentle with me, I felt that some of the things that I had to enlarge on were uncalled for i.e. the “foo foo washing” surely it was plain enough for people to know what it meant?

This level of personal detail was difficult for me to talk about in such a public court room and I have no idea why the lawyer thought this line of questioning was significant to its enquiry. I recall reading that a witness gave a statement accusing the States Of Jersey of accepting a fifty thousand pound bribe from JIMMY SAVILE but the lawyer didn’t ask the witness about it. How can a “foo foo washer” be more significant than an accusation of a fifty thousand pound bribe?

The ordeal of having to give such personal details at such a public forum got all a bit too much for me and I broke down in tears and asked for a break. The panel agreed to me having a break where I was taken to a separate room and accompanied by a member of the media team attached to the enquiry. With hindsight I can’t see why I was not offered any victim support because I clearly needed it and a media professional is not the ideal person TO CONSOLE A VICTIM OF ABUSE having to relive their most disturbing memories of childhood.

I did not feel the impact from the ordeal of giving evidence to the enquiry until a couple of days later where I am now on medication, and therapy, to help me sleep and needing help to come to terms after all the publicity which is still not finished.

I ask the Inquiry Team and myself what will you achieve to help our age group that went through all this, our abusers have got away with it and we have had to live with this all these years. Giving evidence was hard and painful but I hope and pray that through me doing this that others who have been abused in anyway will come forward, why should these horrible people get away with it you are not the guilty ones the abusers are and if they are still alive they should stand trial but if you do not come forward they are laughing and getting away with it, be brave and stand up for your rights."(END)

Jean's experiences, of giving evidence to the Inquiry, are at odds with the Inquiry's. Jean tell's us;

"I did not feel the impact from the ordeal of giving evidence to the enquiry until a couple of days later where I am now on medication, and therapy, to help me sleep"

Yet the Inquiry tells us;

"All the witnesses who have given evidence so far have been positive about both their experience and the support received at the IJCI." HERE

Indeed the Inquiry, after its own major SECURITY BREACH is at odds with itself where it tells us;

"There has been NO (my emphasis) security breach over mail sent by the Inquiry." HERE

But at the same time tells us;

"it is not possible to determine if there has been deliberate interference with the Inquiry’s post" HERE

Things are not stacking up, questions ARE being asked of the Inquiry, but answers are not forthcoming.

Thank's to Jean, and all Victims/survivors/witnesses/whistleblowers for attempting to get the truth out there. We will continue to do the same.

Jean Neal Update.

Back in April 2012 VFC exclusively broke the story of a little known "care" home in Jersey by publishing a Guest Posting from a resident of the home, and Abuse Survivor, Jean Neal.

The Jersey Home For Girls, or Grouville Girl's Home, had not received any State Media attention during the Child Abuse scandal and there were those saying that the institution never existed. That was until we published documented proof, in Jean's Guest Posting, to include official records and photographs of the home. Jean's Guest Posting can be read HERE.

We then exclusively interviewed Jean, nine days later, when she came to Jersey and spoke of the Girl's Home, the abuse she suffered there, the book she wrote about her childhood and later years, and how "good can come from bad." The Interview can be viewed HERE.

Regular readers will be aware that we now have a public Child Abuse Inquiry taking place, which unfortunately Bloggers have been marginalised and banned from the media room under spurious grounds as reported HERE. Despite the banning of Bloggers, (Jersey's only independent media) by the Committee of Inquiry, VFC continues to be of assistance to the Inquiry by supplying it with evidence and witnesses to include Jean Neal.

After listening to an extremely brave witness give live evidence to the Committee of Inquiry, VFC made contact with Jean, and told her of the witness and her evidence. The witness was a resident at the Home For Girls and spoke of the punishment, and regime, at the home. When asked by the Committee's lawyer if she knew of any others who suffered the same treatment as her , at the home, the witness replied in the negative.

VFC DID know of a former resident at the home (Jean Neal) who HAD suffered the same abuse, and to cut a long story short VFC was able to reunite the witness with Jean Neal after 60 plus years and now Jean is also giving evidence to the Child Abuse Inquiry as a direct result of VFC being present at the public hearing, and being so researched on the Child Abuse atrocities.

We interviewed Jean, Friday just gone, and talked to her about the ongoing Committee of Inquiry and how she doesn't feel she is believed by the Inquiry. She speaks of her recent experiences with the Jersey Archive who, she says, are not as helpful with supplying her with documents as they once were (pre Child Abuse Committee Of Inquiry). Records, we are told, have "gone missing."

Good can come from Bad?

A little over a week ago VFC were the first to break the story of  "The Grouville Home For Girls" and of the horrendous abuse that was alleged to have taken place there.

Abuse Survivor Jean submitted a Guest Posting where she told us her experiences of being lashed with stinging nettles and put into ice cold baths with her head held under the water until she gasped for air. This treatment allegedly carried out by her "carers."

Jean, we are told, contacted Jersey's only "news"paper the Jersey Evening Post before coming over to Jersey for her book signing in order to relate her story and publicise her book. Our only "news"paper got back to her saying that they weren't interested in running a story but Jean could "pay for an advert." Shortly after VFC broke the story Jean was again contacted by the JEP telling her they have had "a change of heart" and they now  WILL run the story. Not sure if they have run the story because for moral and ethical reasons we refuse to buy it. But suspect if the Blogs (Jersey's only independent media) hadn't of run the story then NONE of the State Media would have.

BBC State Radio also run the story (after we broke it) and had Jean in as a live guest. Presenters of the show "Carrie and Sarah" asked listeners to contact the show with information about the little known Grouville Home For Girls. We did this by e-mailing a link to a wealth of information concerning the home, including photographs and public records, but the good old BBC wanted it kept a secret and refused to read the e-mail (below) out.

from: voiceforchildren voiceforchildren
to: bbc radio jersey
date: 26 April 2012 10:21
subject: Grouville girls home.


Carrie/Sarah.

Your listeners might be interested to know there is plenty of information concerning the Grouville Home For Girls here. http://voiceforchildren.blogspot.com/2012/04/chair-borne-to-heaven-borne-guest.html where we were the first to break the story.

Team Voice.(end)

One can only speculate as to why they refused to read out the e-mail containing a link to a wealth of information concerning the Home but one chain of thought is that the BBC view the Jersey Bloggers as a threat.......and so they should (some might say).

As a follow-up to Jean's Guest posting we were able to conduct a short interview with her (below) to briefly discuss her book "Chair Borne To Heaven Borne" her reasons for writing it and so forth.

Amazingly Jean is not bitter about her childhood experiences and has been able to come out the other end relatively unscarred due to, in part, writing this book, and sharing her experiences. She wants to convey a positive message that good can come from bad and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Although Jean believes the light at the end of the tunnel is Jesus there are those of us who believe a Committee Of Inquiry with a fit for purpose Terms Of Reference and outside intervention would suffice. 

Chair Borne To Heaven Borne (A Guest Posting)

My name is Jean and I am a survivor of the Jersey Child Abuse. The Abuse that I, members of my family, and friends suffered took place in an institution many of you won't have heard of.


After coming across a publication by VFC which was a guest posting from TOM PERRY I have made contact with VFC and he has agreed to publish a short guest posting from myself which I hope will bring attention to, or make people aware of, the abuse and suffering concerning those who were in other Jersey Institutions not reported in the media.

I have written a book about the trials and abuse that happened in the "Grouville Girl`s Home" in Jersey. It appears some people that live in Jersey say that they did not know of this Girls Home existing. I can assure you it did, as I was in that home from the age of 6years old until I was 15. My older sisters were in the same home. The staff would routinely beat us with a number of different implements, objects or weapons these would include "stinging nettles". This would happen if we wet the bed or any similar "crime." The staff also put us in ice cold baths of water and would keep our heads under the water until we gasped for breath. There was also sexual abuse.

This kind of Abuse and Paedophilia gets described as HISTORIC as mentioned in the Tom Perry submission. How can people talk about these things being historical, utter rubbish, these things stay with you and affect you for the rest of your life specially when someone brings up these subjects, It all comes back to mind as if it were today, it has a big effect on you for the rest of your life. These things do not go away over night, in fact I have had to have counselling only recently because of the effect it had on me. I have NOT seen a psychiatrist over the abuse and have no reason to see one, as it seems some people think you, or all Abuse Survivors, do if they want compensation. I wonder how they would deal with such abuse if they went through it and then told they needed to see such a person. It seems to me the decades of abuse was covered up over the years by those who should have been protecting us and I for one am glad it has come out and made public.

Asked why we did not report it at the time we were threatened we would have our tongues cut out or our throats cut with a pair of scissors if we did, we lived in fear of the staff the whole time. My book is called Chair borne To Heaven Borne and goes on to happier times as I got married and left Jersey for the UK. I suffered lots of illnesses even a broken spine ending up in a wheelchair. Then a healing miracle takes place in my life I go around now helping other people. This does not take away the memories of my childhood and the abuse I suffered in fact the older you get the harder it gets to erase it from your mind.

The Jersey homes I was in still stay in my memory, I could do a complete drawing of both buildings even to this day. Was the Girls Home demolished to hide another Haut de la Garenne scenario? What secrets lay buried with the Girls Home? I will be signing and selling my book at the Christian book shop in the Central Market St Helier on Wednesday from 10am  12. 30. I hope the book will help people to come forward and talk about it rather than suppress it as some have done for so long.

What was done to us as children was done by a small minority of people. I do not blame everyone in Jersey and I regard jersey as a nice place to holiday.