A former assistant at a Halifax children’s home has been jailed for 25 years after being convicted of sexual offences against children in her care, while the former manager of the same home was told he would not go to prison after a jury found he had committed multiple offences.
Linda Brunning, 67, of Sowerby Bridge, appeared at Bradford Crown Court on Monday 8 June for sentencing after she was found guilty in February of one count of indecent assault on a male child and four further offences of aiding and abetting serious sexual abuse carried out by the former manager of Skircoat Lodge Children’s Home.
The abuse linked to Brunning took place between the 1970s and 1990s. She was also made subject to sex offender registration requirements indefinitely.
At the same hearing, the court made final orders in relation to Malcolm Phillips, 93, formerly of Tyseley in Birmingham, who managed Skircoat Lodge during the period of offending.
Phillips had faced allegations of rape, indecent assault and indecency with a child, but was deemed unfit to stand trial and instead faced a trial of facts. In that process, a jury does not return criminal convictions but decides whether the defendant committed the acts alleged.
That trial concluded in January, and a jury found that Phillips had committed sexual offences against children in his care. At Monday’s hearing, the judge imposed an absolute discharge, saying she was bound by the statutory framework. Phillips was also made subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and will remain on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life.
The court reiterated that while a sentence could not be imposed on Phillips, the findings formally recognised the seriousness and scale of his offending and the harm caused to children.
Summing up, Judge Kirstie Watson said Phillips and Brunning had committed “vile abuse” against children. She described Phillips as a “master manipulator” who “set the tone” at the home.
Addressing him, she said: “You were the dominant force and cultivated a culture of fear among the young and extremely vulnerable children in your care.”
The court heard Phillips had been in charge of Skircoat Lodge when it opened in 1976 and used his position over two decades to isolate children for his sexual gratification. Brunning, who worked as his assistant, was described during the case as a large and domineering woman who humiliated and hurt children.
Jurors heard children at the home, which was for boys and girls aged four to 16 who were subject to care orders, were deprived of food and sleep, threatened with losing family visits and told nobody cared about them and no-one would believe them.
Victims described running away after being abused, only to be returned to the home by police and then accused of being liars and troublemakers.
The court also heard that Phillips had already been convicted in 2001 of abusing eight girls at Skircoat Lodge in the 1970s and 1980s, for which he was jailed for seven years.
Brunning’s defence told the court she had gone on to work with vulnerable adults after being removed from Skircoat Lodge in 1994 when Phillips first came under investigation, and said there had been no complaints about her in that later role. Her barrister said she now respected the verdicts against her.
Several survivors attended the sentencing. Kelly Lees, Karen Bentham and Angela Radford all waived their right to anonymity and spoke publicly afterwards.
Kelly Lees, who was sexually abused by Phillips after moving into the home aged 11 in the 1990s, said she was furious that he would not go to prison.
She said she had been a child and vulnerable, and that he had abused many children on a daily basis. She said she felt sadness, isolation and anger over losing her childhood, and added that the only people who should feel guilt were Phillips, Brunning and the professionals who knew what was happening.
Karen Bentham, who was sexually abused by Phillips as a 14-year-old in the 1990s, said she was frustrated that he did not have to sit through the trial of facts and hear the evidence against him.
She said he had never truly been forced to take accountability for what he did, but added that the findings had finally brought her some relief after living with trauma for 30 years. She said she now felt she could breathe and that she had been heard and believed.
Outside court, Angela Radford said she had waited 50 years for the outcome and added: “I’ve served the time, not him.”
The women urged other former residents of Skircoat Lodge to come forward and tell police what had happened to them.
Speaking after sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Claire Smith of Calderdale District Police said the outcome could not undo the harm suffered by children at the home but did represent long overdue accountability.
She praised the survivors for coming forward after so many years and said police hoped the result would bring some measure of acknowledgement and closure. She also urged anyone who had suffered child abuse or exploitation to report it, regardless of how much time had passed.