09/09/2013 Inside Out South East

The man the system let down. I am 49 this year. Answers have not been

recognised. I have had nothing. The extraordinary story of one person's

search for justice and his long— lost family. Scores of arrests and

millions of pounds spent policing. We get behind the scenes on the

fracking debate for Sussex and Kent. This is about money and all about

the Government with $sic in its eyes and not the welfare of the

community. —— signs. I'm Natalie Graham with untold stories, closer

to home. From all round the South East, this is Inside Out.

Hello, tonight we're in Butts Brow above the town of Eastbourne, for a

story of survival against the odds. It is the story of a little boy who

was placed into foster care here in Eastbourne in the 1960s. But

instead of care and protection, he encountered abuse and torment.

There are failings and there is misery. But there is also hope. And

for the last year Colin Campbell has been helping Brian in his

search for happiness and answers. For his entire life, Brian has kept

the horrors of his childhood buried away. But this year he has

confronted his demons and embarked on a journey that will change his

life for ever. I want to know who I am as a person. I need to know

where things went wrong. Happiness is where he wants to end up. But he

doesn't know if that's possible. This is what I have waited for for

a long time. Wish me luck. A smiling little boy on his second

birthday, this is the only photo Brian has from his childhood. Born

in Birmingham, he was placed into care when he was a baby. His single

mother was unable to cope. A child in need of love and protection,

Brian ended up here in Eastbourne, hundreds of miles away from his

birth family. An eleven month old baby, he was placed into foster

care. It was 1965. And he was supposedly under the watchful eye

of social services. At the beginning of the year, Brian gave

me his social services file in the hope I'd be able to help him piece

his life together. The pain and suffering of his formative years is

in black and white to read. Made to stand outside a shop for two hours

without moving, the file documents how a little boy was let down by

those who were supposed to care for him. Not allowed to cry if he hurt

himself. Eyewitness accounts reveal there was psychological and

physical abuse. Left badly bruised. He was violently mistreated by his

foster mother. We taking out of here and taking to London. Brian

has worked all his life in Eastbourne. Aged 49, he delivers

freshly caught fish to top London restaurants. You have to try to

keep your job going. But also still go into the questions that need to

be answered. In particular, the role played by social services, who

failed him. They allowed Brian to remain in the clutches of an

abusive foster carer. Staff shortages meant his case didn't get

the attention it needed. One social worker admits in the file that

Brian should have been removed from the foster home years earlier. The

cruelty lasted until he was 12, when he was eventually placed with

foster parents who cared. I think the timing might be right now

because a few ghosts have been laid to rest I think. At the beginning

of the summer, Brian asked me to try to track down his birth family.

He had tried many years earlier but had drawn a blank. To meet my

family now, if it comes about, who knows, it could be a good thing

that I do before I leave this Earth. To meet my family. Why shouldn't I?

That was my right but unfortunately it was taken away from me when I

was little and that is all part of the journey. After all this time,

will my natural family accept me? Will they embrace me as an older

brother? It is a tall order but one that I am willing to take. I see

being —— people being reunited on the television and I would like to

think that would be me. Compounding his suffering as a child, Brian was

also violently sexually abused over a prolonged period by a Church of

England priest. The Reverend Roy Cotton took advantage of Brian's

vulnerability. At one stage, he even sought to adopt him. An

associate of the priest also sexually abused Brian. Cotton died

before justice could be served. If my mother was still alive I would

probably keep that from her. The Guild with just kill her. —— the

guilt. Within the pages of his social services file it is clear

Brian's mother wanted him back. She made numerous attempts to be

reunited with her son. When Brian was five, it says here that his mum

stated that she on no account wished for him to be adopted. A few

years later, his father also tried to get him back, so as to have the

family complete. And in 1971, a visit was set up for Brian's mother

to travel down to Eastbourne from Birmingham with a social worker,

but the visit never went ahead. Brian's mother couldn't afford the

rail fare. She was £3 short as she had to pay a large electricity bill.

Although separated by miles, Brian never stopped thinking about his

real family. Despite numerous attempts, they were never reunited.

I know they attempted to get me back. Unfortunately, decisions were

made but I was better off where I was. That was not the case. Brian's

always known somewhere out there he has siblings. Brothers and sisters

he has never seen. The Bishop of Chichester is today making a

personal visit to Brian's house. I have to take a deep breath. I am

not a violent person. But, going back a few years, even a year ago,

I would not have him near the doorstep. He is here to apologise

for the sexual abuse Brian suffered as a child and for the church's

failings. How long have you lived here? Brian didn't want us to film

the whole conversation, so I left him to discuss matters alone. I

thought this was going to be easy. Because of what you have got on.

When one hears what somebody has been through in the way that he has

it is extremely humbling. But he's a person of amazing integrity,

honesty and courage. facing the damage that's been done

to his life and working through the way he is, that he's looking for

peace and a new start. He gave me the impression that during the 45

minutes he was here that, I felt like what he said to me I actually

believed him I actually got some kind of comfort and I admired the

way he said there was failings and cover—up and lies. He did say, I'm

sorry for what the church stole from you. My childhood right up to

now, the present day. It's July, and I'm on my way to Birmingham.

After months of searching for Brian's birth family, I've managed

to track down the younger brother he's never met. To my astonishment,

Barry has himself been searching for Brian for 25 years. When I knew

he was out there I did not give up in my mind nor my heart. What

impact did it have on you? Just to know that there is somebody there,

I can put a name to a face. It has always been like a story, like a

chapter in the lives —— our lives, this time it is like it is real. I

want to see him now. Not tomorrow, next week, I want to speak to him

today and to speak to him today. It has been too long. This is the only

photo Barry has ever seen of his older brother. But I've got a

surprise for him. A recent photo of Brian. It's like I'm opening a door

now. If I see him on the street at least I'll know that's my brother.

It's been a long time. The person I've always wanted to know and see.

It's made my day this has, it's made my life this has now. Barry

had tried to find Brian through social services departments in

Birmingham and Eastbourne but to no avail. It was really hard because

of my mum, she wanted him and every time I'd see her cry it would make

me more determined to keep edging on because she couldn't handle it.

Brian's mother Margaret died peacefully in Birmingham in 2010.

She loved him. Even before she died, two weeks before she died she was

crying over him with the photograph. Even on her death bed if she would

have just walked through that door and had one look at him, that's

what hurts. I'm on my way to Brian's house to inform him of the

news about his birth family. I am anxious and nervous about telling

him what I discovered. I do not know how he will take the news. He

has told me that he believes his birth mother is not alive any more.

I do not know whether he is saying that, to try to protect himself.

That is in the hope and expectation she might still be around. It will

be a very difficult conversation that I will have with him. As you

know you asked me to track down the alive members of your birth family.

I have found your younger brother Barry. He's 40 years old, he lives

in Solihull and has for the last 25 years been searching for you. He's

missed you massivley in his life, and he is desperate to get in

contact with you, to hear your voice to speak to you and to see

you. I thought it was going to be easy... You've got three sisters.

Gillian, Michelle and Delia, who is your youngest sister, they are also

all desperate to meet you. And are incredibly excited that you've

tried to get in contact with them. As you suspected, your mother isn't

around any more. She's passed away, but what your brother has told me,

she did not stop thinking about you. This is it. This is what I've been

waiting for for a long time. Wish me luck.

How why you're doing? —— how are you? It has been a long time coming.

You look like us. A bit older! Welcome home. I am being brave. Are

you all right? You have the same nose and eyes. Everything. It is

good to see you. You can't keep hiding behind what

happened in the past all the time but to actually get out there get

hold of stressful at times. I'm not denying

that it hasn't, but it has been well worth it to find out who I am

to realise people love me people have been looking for me and that

is just worth more than any money in the world I think.

Colin Campbell with that special report. Also known as energy gold,

lodged Apostles of gas run from Dorset in the West to Kent in the

east. —— energy gold. The debate about fracking has been going on

for several months. Over the past weeks, protests

against exploration have hit the headlines. In Balcombe, news spread

that a controversial technique called fracking might be used to

extract shale gas if it was discovered. As they attempted to

blockade an exploratory well operated by Unlock Democracy, the

protesters were joined by an MP. Officers are using pressure points

to make them on link their arms. On the left is the Green Party member

for Parliament, Caroline Lucas. And she is led away, protesters applaud

her and the media rush to get pictures. Alongside the emotions,

what are the facts? How realistic is it that the rocks beneath our

feet from Dorset to Kent are rich in oil and gas. Only now, new

technology can release it. The journey begins on the Dorset coast,

not here in West Sussex. This is on the Isle of Purbeck, famous for

snorkelling and fossil hunting. This did not bring me to the Dorset

beach, but the shale. A professor from Plymouth University has come

along to help me understand what it is about a common rock that has got

oil companies and the Government excited. While it might be buried

underneath land across the south, here, it has risen to the surface

and I am about to get a look. You have a body sea bed with life. It

gets buried. And then it is cooked, like a pressure cooker. The rocks

above press it down and it gets warmer as you push down. That means

there is a lot of organic material. Plant and animal February. It is

cut into hydrocarbons. And that is what we can see as oil and gas. ——

February. Fracking enables us to get at this. The first stage is to

drill down one mile and then turned it horizontally and run it through

the shale rocks. The aim is to reach to tiny cracks in the rocks.

Inside them are molecules of gas. What is left of the cooked up

organic matter. The next stages to pumping water and chemicals at high

pressure. This will widen the cracks. Tiny grains like sand are

added and they are designed to halt the cracks open. It releases the

gas, which is flush through the pipe and back—up to the surface.

With the arrival of Cuadrilla, Balcombe started to say no as a

peaceful protest by residents began. Cuadrilla claims Britain has a lot

of reserves right for exploitation. There are fears of an energy

Bonanza and pollution. I do not trust the fracking industry, to be

honest. It has worked in America, great, good for them, they have

vast wide—open plains and maybe it suits their topography. The South

East is densely populated. Why would they think of doing it here?

There are too many risks to pollution, to water. This is all

about money, all about the Government with dollars in its eyes

and not the welfare of communities. Within days, people described as

professional protesters and others joined from nearby Brighton. They

pointed out Cuadrilla had been forced to suspend fracking in the

north—west after minor earthquakes. They had to withdraw a brochure

which the Advertising Standards Authority said exaggerated evidence

about the safety of fracking. Cuadrilla has said repeatedly it

has no plans to carry out extraction at Balcombe. We are in

deep exploration phase. That is the whole point, Wells such as

Cuadrilla. You need data. This is a scientific driven process and you

need to assess the data and make the assessment. You need to decide

if it needs to happen and it did, would it work? Can it be done

safely and sensibly? Until you have done exploration, you need the data.

I do not answer questions without data. A lot of people have said,

Look, we do not want fracking here, it is bad for the environment. What

is the alternative? That is an interesting line, the alternative.

The South Downs, recently, of which many of us try to help, they wanted

to put wind turbines on the South Downs. It was given open discussion.

Planning made the decision to say no. That was three wind turbines to

power a number of houses. That is taking you off the grid and that

makes sense. People get misled when they think we can provide energy

needs from renewables. Energy needs are not just electricity, that is

probably one third. Where will the heating come from? Where will

people cook? Where will fuel come from? They will need gas. They will

need oil. I have no issue with renewables. We need to be realistic

that we will need it for decades. The question is should we have them

or not, the question is, while we build that share, which is up to 4%

of the total energy supply, we have 96% to go, where do we get energy

from? Why are we giving five times more taxpayers' money to fossil

fuel companies instead of renewables? Because they have power

behind the scenes. Lobbyists have their interests served. I am

shaking with frustration. Any kind of decent future for our children

is sold down the river. How realistic is it that an oil bonanza

lies beneath our feet in the south of England? Let's head to Balcombe

where the protests are. We do not think the shale is right for

fracking. It probably does not have the right type of gas and it

probably is not brittle enough to break it to make gas come out. It

is to plastic. The place we think is the most perspective is the

North of England. Shale is 130 million years old. It sits under

Karl that gave the North of England the Industrial Revolution. In Kent,

there has been a history of —— coal. People have extracted coal. But the

shale underneath that in the North of England is not present in Kent.

In Balcombe, many long for the protesters to go home while others

welcome the economic benefits. Campaigners remain fearful and

determined. I cannot think about having an oil company arriving and

telling you that they are planning to drive tankers up and down and

pour chemicals into the ground. Our response was not to believe it

would ever happened. I have worked in oil and gas exploration all of

my working life. You find good Wells, you find and ones that fail.

You find some that are fantastic. If you are a betting man, Balcombe?

I will not wager. We will wait for the data. How can it be worth the

risk? How can you promise you will keep us safe? And you can get more

information about the show on the Kent and Sussex website and you can

watch the programme again on the website. Next week, on the front

line in accident and emergency in Margate. And now it is the GPs who

control the budgets, what does it mean for us in Kent and Sussex? I

am here because I am concerned about the creeping privatisation of

the NHS. Goodnight.