27/01/2014 Inside Out North East and Cumbria

This is BBC One on the North East Cumbria. This week Chris Jackson is

in South Shields for tonight's Inside Out.

In the next half an hour. Short sharp shocks ` we're with detectives

investigating horrific claims of abuse at a County Durham Detention

Centre. Abandoned ` a ship's crew left stranded on the Tyne find a way

home, but have we been left lumbered with the crippled vessel? All is

gone. Water, fuel, food. Everything on the ship is gone. There's a fight

on to bring a North East built warship back to the Tyne for an

illustrious retirement. I am absolutely certain everybody in this

region will be behind a bit like that and give us their support.

Stories from the heart of the North East Cumbria. This is Inside Out.

We start tonight with a shocking story from County Durham stretching

back decades. More than 140 men have now come forward with allegations of

sexual and physical abuse at a former youth detention centre near

Consett. With exclusive television access to the police investigation,

we ask why a prison meant to steer young offenders away from a life of

crime with a short sharp shock, has instead left scores of lives in

ruin. It's always in my head, the shame, it's always there. It's

ruined my life, completely ruined it. Ray Poar was 17 when he was sent

to Medomsley for stealing biscuits from a factory. The chap I went in

there with didn't answer with the title sir, and I laughed, and one of

the officers just punched me full in the chest really hard and that

really was a wake`up call ` a shock. And from then on it was pretty much

an everyday thing. You were always prodded, punched, hit. Demolished in

the 1990s, this is the BBC's only footage of Medomsley. It was run on

military lines and staffed mainly by ex`servicemen. I've spoken to a very

senior civil servant who said that in Home Office circles it was known

that the junior prison's reputation for being tough sometimes slipped

into brutality. These will be no holiday camps, and I sincerely hope

those who attend them will not ever want to go back there. It is very

hard, very hard indeed, the physical education. It gets you fit. The

discipline, you have to do what you're told when you were told.

Medomsley's tough approach made it an ideal home for the then

Conservative Government's short, sharp shock experiment. And when

Leon Brittan, then Home secretary visited in 1985 he was pleased with

what he saw. I wanted to see for myself how it worked in practice and

I think we have it about right. Despite the endorsement, Medomsley

was closed at the end of the decade. Shielded for almost 20 years in a

regime where inmates feared they'd be hit if they complained, was

violent rapist Neville Husband. Husband, a prison officer who was in

charge of the kitchens, preyed on dozens of boys. He got hold of me

throat and pushed his body against mine and squeezed and he was telling

me that you will do it because you can just disappear, no`one will

care, you're just scum. I could feel myself losing consciousness and the

next thing I remember he was raping me. I was woken by an officer who

noticed that I'd wet the bed and was told to get my bedclothes together

and my soiled clothes and he made me bunny hop to the showers and when I

couldn't make it, he kicked me. We knew we couldn't turn round and

complain about what happened because they were the ones that were kicking

us about every day, the odd punch in the arms, ribs, back of the knees,

every day you had no`one to talk to. Neville Husband and a storeman

Leslie Johnson were finally convicted for their crimes in 2003.

They were jailed for ten years and have since died. During the

investigation into Husband, officers who'd been at the jail gave

evidence. Medomsley was a very strict youth detention centre which

operated the short, sharp, shock treatment regime. Most borstals and

detention centres were run the same way 20 years ago. They were very,

very tough institutions. But now, decades after the jail closed, and

with more and more former inmates coming forward, the police have

opened a new and wide`ranging investigation into what was really

going at Medomsley. We have seen a huge amount of people coming forward

who have been physically assaulted. If you ended up in the kitchens in

that brutal regime, you were almost certainly going to be raped and

sexually assaulted ` so my feelings and that of the team are dead

straightforward, this is horrific. 70 detectives are working on the

inquiry, with new cases still coming in. The day he went in, his legs

were kicked from under him. He describes it as a concentration

camp. There's a regular briefing to share information with to

colleagues. The prison officer picked up a metal bucket and started

hitting him around the head and body and he only stopped when he became

tired. This is some of the most shocking abuse I've ever heard of `

it must have been a living hell. He describes heart`wrenchingly how his

parents would come in to visit him and see the marks and bruises on him

and he would pray and beg them not to say anything because he would be

subjected to more beatings inside. Some of the boys would lay at the

bottom of the stairs and ask other boys to jump on their legs to break

a leg so that they could be removed, so they wouldn't be subjected to any

more beatings. The inquiry is expected to take many more months,

but there are clear objectives for the officer in charge.

have committed criminal offences they should be brought to

for them, and most important, those individuals who came forward to the

police that the place they find themselves in at the end of it is

better. Most of them have not told anyone about it and they've seen

this and they've realized that they are not alone. A lot of them have

said it's like a hand grenade in their brain and blowing their heads

completely. Today's approach is a far cry from the experience of Kevin

Young. He was 17 when he was raped by Husband and tried to report the

crime as soon as he was released from jail almost 40 years ago. All

efforts were made to make sure I didn't make a complaint. In other

words I was threatened with re`arrest and to be sent back to

Medomsley. I couldn't begin to tell you how I felt that day. Do I feel

that way now? Yes. I feel betrayed. Let down, and I'm angry. Kevin says

he has never been offered any counselling or official apology for

what happened to him. The Home Office wanted to brush it under the

carpet, wanted it to go away. They hoped it was an isolated issue

involving a few men. It hasn't been, it has turned out to probably

involve hundreds. When I'd heard about what had happened, I thought,

well, that absolutely disgusting that that was going on there, but it

wasn't just the sexual side. There was a lot of widespread physical

violence. This man, who doesn't want to be identified, was 17 when he was

sent to Medomsley. You could take a punch or a push or a kick. They were

telling you were worthless ,that's why you were in there, you were no

good, nobody wanted you. He says the worst violence he suffered was from

fellow inmates, but he alleges it was orchestrated by the prison

staff. I was in the dorm. I felt being kicked and punched and slapped

and when I tried and I tried to look up and I saw a prison officer

smiling and I thought, he's put them up to this, and I curled up into a

ball and took what they threw at us and thought, tonight it's my turn,

it'll be somebody else's tomorrow. There is a culture of violence that

is far beyond short, sharp, shock. This is violence on a daily basis to

very vulnerable young men. So how could this all have gone unreported?

In the initial investigation into Husband sexual assaults, prison

officers said it was an open secret that boys were being abused. There

were always very strong rumours that Neville Husband was homosexual and

that he was sexually abusing boys who were working for him in the

kitchen. As soon as I arrived, I was told by two officers that Neville

Husband was a domineering character and also that he allegedly abused

inmates. On a night`time, Husband would usually keep one boy back with

him after the others had been dismissed and we all felt sorry for

that boy. Tim Newell was the governor at Medomsley from 1978

1981, socialising with Husband during his spell there, and even

took part in plays he produced. Reports written by the governor

about Husband couldn't be more different from what was actually

going on. Mr Husband's influence on trainees is positive and they all

benefit from the environment he creates. I was in complete panic, I

thought he was going to kill me. He was saying, no one will care if you

go missing, you could be found hanged in yourself, no one will

care. Mr Husband continues to provide an outstanding contribution

to the running of the establishment. I feel like I'm drowning every day.

I feel like I'm doggy`paddling. I feel like I'm crushed inside. Mr

Newell declined to speak to us, but in a statement told us he wrote the

glowing reports about Husband because he was "an outstanding

catering officer" but added that he didn't have a particularly close

relationship with him. He said he was "very sad about the pain brought

about by his staff" and added " if I had any suspicions about sexual

abuse or abuse of any kind I would have taken action" and "if staff

knew about the abuse taking place I am very concerned they let the abuse

continue." Sir Martin Narey was director general of the prison

service when Husband's crimes came to light. Had you heard about a

reputation for Medomsley being tough? Oh, yes, I started my prison

career at Deerbolt at Barnard Castle, and we'd get boys who'd been

to Medomsley when they were younger and they'd talk about how tough

Medomsley was. Do I now think that young people would have been knocked

around at Medomsley, yes I do. Is there something in the phrase short,

sharp, shock which gives prison officers a green light to give

people a bit of a kicking? I''m very clear that the regime probably

encouraged the low`level physical abuse. In the philosophy which goes

pretty close to saying, scare these kids straight, I think there is an

implicit encouragement which certain individuals follow to abuse people.

The abuse went on for 20 years ` how is it possible? I don't know. What

frankly I find appalling is the suggestion of evidence that lots of

other staff knew about that didn't participate but knew about it and

didn't say anything. In my view that's criminal. Do you think those

who were damaged by this actually deserve an official apology? Without

reservation, I apologise to people at Medomsley who were harmed by

Neville Husband. We should have stopped him much earlier. Now 143

former inmates have come forward. A decision on whether to press new

abuse charges will be made later in the year. In the meantime, Ray has

this message for staff who worked at Medomsley. Come and tell the truth.

Just the truth, regardless of what you've done wrong. Just come forward

and tell the truth. And if you'd like to get in touch with the police

or would like to talk to someone, we'll give you a number to call at

the end of the programme. There's also more on my blog. Now a story of

two very different ships, one we want and one we don't. When the

Donald Duckling sailed here into the Tyne in November, she was declared

unfit. Her owners abandoned her and the crew who languished here for two

months without food, pay or fuel. A fortnight ago, a group of

well`wishers managed to raise the funds to send the 11 man Filipino

crew home, but they have left behind a crippled vessel with an uncertain

future and a mountain of debt. So what happens next?

Thank you very much. I am happy. Homeward bound. A moment they

thought would never come. We are very happy that we are going home.

Their ordeal is over. The questions have only just begun.

The crew's plight began six months ago when they joined the ship

already been detained for 121 days after authorities identified safety

concerns. Their first trip was to become a nautical nightmare off the

coast of Morocco. Provisions ran dangerously low. Everything on the

ship is gone. They were forced to fish for food.

It made mealtimes predictable to say the least. Lunch squid, dinner

squid. In September, the Donald Duckling

arrived at the Spanish port of Las Palmas in the Canary Islands where

it was detained again, this time with a list of 40 safety faults. It

was held for another month, and then to the surprise of the crew, it was

allowed to set sail for the North East of England.

Many things wrong on this ship. The Donald Duckling arrived on the

Tyne on November the 9th, chartered to carry thousands of tonnes of

scrap metal from Newcastle to Korea. But once again, the ship was

detained. We just found so much wrong,

initially, we took the unusual steps of suspending the inspection, and we

would come back after they had fixed the deficiencies, and then come back

and reinspect. decay. The food and provisions store

was completely empty. They had no fridges working, it was a bad

situation for them. The mission to seafarers and others

provided meals as donations flooded in.

They only had two days supply of food left which is when we put the

appeal out. We were inundated with offers. In many respects, this crew

were lucky they came to a port like this. They could have arrived

anywhere in the world and be in the same situation.

The British people are very kind and very good.

But as the weeks in port dragged on, and with the ship racking up tens of

thousands of pounds in fees, nothing was being done to make it fit to

sail. Why? To find out, we unravel a story that takes us around the

world. The Donald Duckling is owned by a Taiwanese shipping company. The

firm filed for bankruptcy protection last year with debts reported at

$800 million. Of their fleet of 28 vessels, no less than 11 are either

detained, arrested, idle, or have unpaid crews stuck on board. The

Donald Duckling has a Romanian captain, Indian first meet, and

Filipino crew. `` first mate. The owners are Taiwanese, but it is

flagged to the Central American state of Panama. Ships are often

registered under flags of convenience to reduce operating

costs or avoid regulations owner's country.

Panama have a responsibility. They take the ship and they take the

money for the ship to be on its register, then they have a

responsibility to make sure this ship is seaworthy, which this one

isn't, and to make sure that the crew are being looked after

effectively, which they are not. They have done nothing to rectify

the situation. If this was a UK flag, they would not get away with

that. The Panamanian government said they

would have helped out but despite requests, no one sent through the

right paperwork. A new international law, the Maritime Labour Convention,

sets out the minimum living and working rights for seafarers. It is

ratified by 53 countries, including the UK. But the saga of the Donald

Duckling suggests the convention often doesn't work. We have

uncovered evidence that a Panamanian official inspected the Donal

Duckling as recently as last October and gave it a clean bill of health.

Its certificate is still valid. They are clearly not following what

they are signing up to. We are taking our responsibilities

seriously, unfortunately, I don't think Panama are.

The Panamanian government have said that the certificate was only short

term and the convention has its full support. An international failure

has become Tyneside's problem. The Donald Duckling has been abandoned

on our doorstep, owing hundreds of thousands of pounds in fuels, fees

and wages and part loaded with a cargo of scrap metal worth more than

?300,000. 12 days ago, the Port of Tyne switched the vessel to the

other side of the river. It could take months, weeks, until

someone, some lawyer somewhere pays the money and the ship can finally

sail somewhere else. But for the moment, we are trying to make it

safe and secure. Even if she is made seaworthy once

more, she is going nowhere until her debts are paid. Government officials

have now arrested the vessel on behalf of the firm that charted it

in the first place. A process that will be watched closely by the crew,

even though they are thousands of miles away. They left Newcastle

airport still owed thousands of pounds in wages. The cost of their

transport back to the Philippines met by the International Transport

Workers Federation. These are tears of relief to be finally going home.

In contrast, there is one ship the Tyne would dearly love to see back.

HMS Illustrious is about to be decommissioned, but there is a fight

between three British ports who all want to have her. The Royal Navy

warship was built here on the Tyne in extraordinary circumstances. But

is that enough to bring her home? From the Falklands to the

Philippines, she is one of the Royal Navy's most famous ships. Now HMS

Illustrious is due to be decommissioned and three of

Britain's most famous ports are bidding to provide her final resting

place. Portsmouth, Hull and Tyneside have entered a race to secure the

Navy's last aircraft carrier. Illustrious has always been close to

the nation's heart. Argentina has invaded the Falklands.

2000 men are reported to have ashore this morning and taken full

control. Fighting a war 8,000 miles away

meant Britain needed every ship in the fleet. But Illustrious, launched

by Princess Margaret a couple of years earlier, was not finished.

Could she be made ready for sea in half the normal delivery time? That

question was answered after a series of crisis meetings here at the Swan

Hunter shipyard on the Tyne. Yes, it could be done. But the hundreds of

shipwrights, welders and other tradesmen would have to work round

the clock. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They didn't hesitate.

We undertook to deliver in three months. The previous programme was

6`7 months. As soon as I saw them getting to

work, 25 hours a day, eight days a week, I knew they were intent on

making a success of this. It still sends shivers down my back when I

think of the wonderful work that went in to achieve this against the

odds. We decided we could do it and we did it, as simple as that. But

the pace quickened even further when this ship became one of the first

casualties of the war. HMS Sheffield, one of the Navy's most

modern destroyers, was hit by an Exocet missile, one missile capable

of destroying a ship. Even today it still gives me a bit

of a shiver, the whole atmosphere changed, everyone was

any issues of demarcation, they just got on with the job, as a fantastic

team. It was really traumatic and we were,

many of us were upset. We wanted to do what ever we could possibly do to

help and the only way we could at that time was to get that ship

ready. So deadlines were set and beaten and

Illustrious was ready for sea. The acceptance of Illustrious is a

milestone for the Royal Navy. It is the most important milestone for the

United Kingdom and it is an extremely important milestone for

the North Atlantic Alliance. From the Royal Navy in general and from

all of us in Illustrious in particular, well done and thank you

very much indeed. # We'll meet again...

The scenes as Illustrious sailed down the river were unprecedented.

The emotions of everybody were quite extraordinary. In the day or two

before she sailed, thousands of people were coming to see her. The

whole of Tyneside was identified with it. When we sailed down the

river, my memory is hundreds of thousands of people lining the banks

of the River as we took her down. We have been given exclusive access

to the personal records of Admiral Sir Jock Slater who subsequently

became First Sea Lord. At his home in Hampshire, he showed

time, including some lighter moments on the voyage south, including

crossing the equator with its age old ceremony.

Captain Slater, we welcome you here. We trust that you will join us in a

jug of beer. There was also drama when this

sailor who had been playing in goal in a flight deck match had to be

rescued. I think he thought he was God's gift

to the English football team, but he dived for the ball and went straight

over the side, 50 feet down into the sea. Luckily, the officer on watch

had seen this boy going over and turned hard left so he was missed.

This was the moment when Illustrious steamed up past HMS Invincible to

salute the ship she was relieving. The war had been won before

Illustrious reached the Falklands, but there was still vital work to

do, patrolling the islands and insuring against further attack.

We didn't know what the threat was going to be at that stage. Yes,

Stanley had been retaken, but for all we knew, there could be maverick

Exocet attacks so we had to be on a high state of preparedness.

This was just the beginning of a 32 year career which placed Illustrious

in harm's way at every major theatre of conflict since then. But this is

where history means controversy. `` meets. The Ministry of Defence has

been under fire in recent years following the break`up of famous

Inside Out here in Pakistan. Illustrious's sister ships HMS Ark

Royal and Invincible were also broken up abroad. But now she could

be saved. Instead of breaking up Illustrious, the MOD wants bidders

to suggest ways of saving the ship for future generations. How is that

going to work? The bidders have to put in an expression of interest.

Then there is an inspection phase which will kick off in about a

fortnight. Finally, we will hear the formal proposals on whether she is

to become a hotel, a conference centre or a museum. We have lined up

those contenders. I am certain that everybody in this

region will be behind a bid like that and I hope that they will give

us the support they need. A ship like that can be the centrepiece of

a much larger maritime attraction which will bring a lot of economic

regeneration to the city and raise the profile and name of the city.

The city is crying out for a conference facility and has been for

many years. This will give us the opportunity to use part of the ship

for a conference centre, one for the city and one which will be unlike

any other around Europe. Each of the contenders will have to

find a berth, perhaps a dry dock to locate the ship, money, tens of

millions of pounds, and a length of other maritime developments such as

housing and shops. Surprisingly, perhaps, Adimral Slater has come

close to nailing his colours to Tyneside's mast. My heart tells me I

would love to see Illustrious back, preserved, showing the people of the

North East the maritime heritage and what this class of ships have

achieved. My head questions whether that actually is a practical

proposition. One site already ruled out is former

Swan Hunter shipyard owned by by North Tyneside Council. It says

Illustrious is too big to go here and in any case, this land is

earmarked for industrial use. But the search for other sites is

continuing as the race hots up to find Illustrious a lasting home.

And that is it for another week. Next week, ten years on from the

Tebay disaster, are there new dangers on the track for our railway

workers? From the banks of the Tyne, until

next week, good night. And after that report on the

detention centre, you may want to get in touch for help and support.

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