Criminal trial relating to abuse by staff members at Rhydd Court has commenced

At Jordans Solicitors, we have over the years sadly acted in many claims of non-recent child sexual abuse relating to boarding schools and approved schools.

There was a duty on the school and their employees to care and protect the vulnerable children who were placed at these schools and to provide a safe and supportive environment for them. Where the local authority was responsible for the school, the authority were also under a duty to monitor and supervise the staff members at the school and to protect the children from abuse by the staff members or from other child residents.

Rhydd Court School in Malvern, Worcester was a council run boarding school for around 90 pupils aged between 10 and 18 with behavioural and learning difficulties. We have previously blogged in relation to this school on a number of occasions over the last couple of years

Unfortunately, allegations of sexual abuse at this school are nothing new and after the school closed in 1991 an investigation found that sexual abuse between the pupils had been ongoing for several years.

In the summer of 2022, following an investigation by West Mercia Police a number of former staff members at the school were arrested and subsequently charged with alleged child abuse offences at the school between the late 1970’s and the early 1990’s.

The criminal trial relating to this alleged abuse commenced in Birmingham Crown Court on 29 July 2024. It has now been reported in the media that when the prosecutor opened the prosecution case she told the court that “The prosecution case is that children who attended the school suffered emotional, physical and sexual abuse on a systemic scale at the hands of both other children that were there, and members of staff”.

She went on to allege that those who worked at the school allowed a “cruel culture of neglect and ill treatment to flourish …virtually unchecked”. It was also alleged that the Defendants were aware of what was going on but did little or nothing to prevent it and used it to their own advantage to commit similar offences against the children themselves.

The defendant’s deny the charges. The trial is expected to last several months and is not expected to end until potentially December 2024

Jordans solicitors are acting on behalf of vulnerable children and young adults whom it is alleged were sexually abused in such schools including Rhydd Court.

Compensation is a small step towards taking control of your life and getting the justice you deserve.

If you or your child have been affected by anything in this article and would like to speak to one of our highly qualified abuse team members in confidence, then please do not hesitate to contact us.