Another Former Medomsley Detention Centre Officer Successfully Prosecuted

Allegations of abuse against a former prison officer at Medomsley Detention Centre have been proven.

Alexander Flavell, 89, had denied the allegations and was declared unfit to stand trial as he has dementia but jurors at Teesside Crown Court found he had committed an act of indecent assault against one inmate and was guilty of general misconduct in public office.

Flavell was cleared of a serious sexual assault – which would now be charged as rape – and two charges of assault.

The jury was unable to agree on a final charge of assault and the prosecution will decide at a later date if it will apply for a retrial on that count.

Judge Howard Crowson told the jury the only possible outcome was an absolute discharge as Flavell has dementia, as well as physical problems. The jury had been asked simply to consider whether the acts he was accused of had happened.

Prosecutors had told the trial Flavell was a bully who persistently exploited his position of authority.

The defendant denied the offences when the allegations were put to him at a police interview in 2014 but had since become too ill to stand trial and was not present at court.

Flavell had at times worked as a chef with Neville Husband, who was convicted of serious sexual offences 20 years ago, and has since died.

In 1972, they indecently assaulted an inmate in the kitchen when they ordered him to strip naked and covered him in grease.

The misconduct charge, which spanned from 1969 to 1975, related to a number of complaints that alleged Flavell committed unlawful acts of violence on them.

Flavell’s was the fourth and final trial involving allegations of physical and sexual abuse there. In 2019, five former prison officers – Christopher Onslow, John McGee, Alan Bramley, Kevin Blakeley and Brian Johnson Greenwell – were jailed for a total of more than 18 years for abusing former inmates at the detention centre following three separate crown court trials.

The Operation Seabrook investigation conducted by Durham Police into allegations of historical abuse at Medomsley has been one of the biggest of its kind in the country. It was launched in 2013 and had a team of 70 detectives working on the case at times.

More than 2,000 survivors contacted Durham Police to report abuse.