Children were held as slave labourers, report says

CLAIMS THAT a privately run care home used children as virtual slave labourers, physically and sexually abused them, were almost certainly true, an investigation by social services inspectors concluded yesterday.

The inquiry into Barlavington Manor children's home, in Petworth, West Sussex, was launched by Kensington and Chelsea council after receiving complaints that children it had sent there to be cared for had in fact been victims of a cruel regime.

The council, which sent children to the privately run home between 1966 and 1984, commissioned the 145-page report after allegations by 12 former residents emerged last year.

The 12 alleged that the proprietors of the home verbally humiliated the children, provided an unacceptably low standard of food and clothing, and used children as unpaid or low-paid labour to support their own affluent lifestyle.

The reportconcluded that the proprietors and at least one staff member were not suitable people to look after children in public care.