Bunker searched in Jersey child abuse probe

The investigation into child abuse at a former children's home on the island of Jersey took a further grim turn yesterday as forensic officers began searching a former Nazi war bunker less than a mile from the home.

Police yesterday said at least six victims of abuse had come forward alleging "serious sexual crimes" were carried out against them in the bunker which was built and used by German artillery when the island was under Nazi occupation during the Second World War.

For more than four months now specialist officers have been conducting a painstaking forensic excavation of the cellars of the nearby Haut de la Garenne children's home where numerous former residents say they were repeatedly drugged, beaten and raped over a period of more than 40 years.

Deputy Chief Officer Lenny Harper, who is leading the investigation, told reporters outside the bunker yesterday: "The allegation is that residents from Haut de la Garenne were taken to the bunker by members of staff and abused there. We are talking about six witness statements to us concerning the bunker. Six different witnesses and different incidents."

The investigation on the island is one of the largest child abuse cases in British history. Excavations at the children's home have unearthed a number of disturbing finds that police say corroborate what victims have said took place in the cellars below. Victims described the cellar as a punishment and rape chamber where children often spent days on end in complete darkness shackled to a bath filled with cold water. Forensic searches have uncovered the concrete bath, flecked with traces of blood, and a message scrawled into the wall above saying "I've been bad for years and years". A set of shackles has also been found.

Police first began excavating the home in February after receiving intelligence that human remains may have been buried on site. An initial find of what was thought to be a child's skull later turned out to be a piece of coconut or wood but subsequent excavations have uncovered 65 children's teeth and a number of human bone fragments. Further examination of the bones revealed that some had been cut or burned leading the police to treat Haut de la Garenne as a possible homicide crime scene.

Although no bodies have been found, police do believe human remains are in the cellar.

"We have a dead child or dead children in that cellar," said Lenny Harper yesterday. "We do not know how they got there or how they died, but we do know in that cellar we have a dead child."

The bunker, meanwhile, lies underneath an historic nineteenth century Martello watchtower just over half a mile to the east of Haut de la Garenne. Both the bunker and tower are currently owned by the Jersey National Trust.

During the Second World War German occupying forces built bunkers across the island to protect from any counter invasion from allied forces. The bunker near Haut de la Garenne was constructed by an artillery regiment who fortified the tower and dug a series of three bunkers. The largest contained eight rooms and was used as a telephone exchange whilst the others were used as sleeping quarters and contained two rooms each.

Police said they were not expecting to have to excavate the bunkers adding that a finger tip search would only take a few days. The number of victims who say they were abused at Haut de la Garenne now stands at 97 whilst 109 people have been named as being involved in offences connected to the investigation. Police said yesterday that 18 have been identified as priority suspects.

Police also announced David Warcup, deputy chief constable of Northumbria will shortly replace Deputy Chief Officer Harper who is due to retire within weeks.