Abuse of Trust (eBook)

Mark D'Arcy is a parliamentary correspondent for the BBC and presents BOOKTalk on the BBC Parliament television channel. When Abuse of Trust was first published he was the BBC's local government and social affairs correspondent for the East Midlands, and a former political commentator for the Leicester Mercury. Paul Gosling is an experienced journalist, author, researcher, lecturer, and broadcaster. He specialises in the economy, accountancy, the co-operative sector, public services and personal finances. A freelance journalist for 27 years, he has written for most quality UK and Irish national newspapers. He is a former Leicester City councillor.

LIST OF CHARACTERS. Includes Nasreen Akram, Peter Bastin, Frank Beck, John Cobb, Anne Crumbie, Henry Dunphy, Dorothy Edwards, Colin Fiddaman, Tim Harrison, Ian Henning, Masud Hoghughi, Greville Janner, Peter Jaynes, Mr Justice Jowitt, Andrew Kirkwood QC, George Lincoln, Sue Middleton, Peter Naylor
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. Includes Christian Wolmar, Tim Schadla-Hall, Steve England and the staff at Leicester Mercury library, Suzy Gibson, Allan Levy QC. 'To all the victims, the council officers, the politicians and the others whose painful memories were raked over for us to produce this book'
INTRODUCTION. For 13 years Frank Beck committed acts of rape, violence and emotional abuse against vulnerable boys and girls who were sent by Leicestershire County Council to the children's homes he ran. He probably killed one of them. Lessons should be drawn from every aspect of Beck's career
1. BECK THE MAN HIS CAREER. 'Frank Beck cut an unlikely figure for a social worker. He was tough, uncompromising and very, very strong. His arms were as thick as the thighs of the children in his care. If you did not know he had been a marine who had seen active service, you might have guessed.'
2. THE POPLARS, MARKET HARBOROUGH. 'The Poplars provided Beck's first real test as a therapist and a manager. Outwardly he was a success. But behind closed doors children were beaten and subjected to abusive therapies and staff were reduced to subservience. The pattern was set for his future crimes'
3. THE RATCLIFFE ROAD ADOLESCENT UNIT. 'Beck's apparent success with his therapeutic approach to childcare was to have its reward at his new and bigger children's home... A brochure set out its aims: to provide a stable environment for adolescents with severe emotional disturbances...'
4. THE BEECHES. 'A solid Edwardian mini-mansion, ivy-covered, with trees all around and a huge glass conservatory at one side, it looked like an ideal environment for troubled children. A place where they could play and feel secure, while skilled social workers helped them deal with their problems.'
5. CONFUSION AT COUNTY HALL. 'Both local government and the child care system were being thoroughly reformed when Beck joined Leicestershire County Council. His career coincided with shifts in the conventional wisdom about child care and changes in the political control and direction of the council'
6. THE CHILD CARE STRATEGY. The child care strategy introduced by Leicestershire County Council in the early 1980s was one of Labour's key policy commitments from the 1981 election. It rested on a simple principle: too many troubled kids were dumped in institutions, and more should be fostered...'
7. REGRESSION THERAPY. 'Frank Beck brought together the respected psychoanalytic ideas of Sigmund Freud, Michael Balint, Bruno Bettelheim and Barbara Dockar-Drysdale, with the practices of Canada's Warrendale home into a theoretical hotchpotch that gave him a cover for the sexual abuse of children
8. A CHARMED LIFE? Complaints against Beck from reliable witnesses rained down on his bosses. Some alleged serious violence and sexual abuse; others seemed less serious but had disturbing overtones. Council officers might have been suspended or at least investigated but Beck seemed to be Teflon-coated
9. LIVING TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY... A complaint of sexual abuse finally ended Beck's career at Leicestershire in March 1986. But the complaint was not about abuse against children. The victims were two male social workers at The Beeches. Beck had made advances to them during staff supervision sessions
10. INVESTIGATION AND ARREST. The complaint which finally led to Beck's arrest came from Pat Holyland, a former Ratcliffe Road resident, who now lived in Loughborough, a town to the north of Leicester. She had been convicted of neglecting her children... and began counselling and parenting classes
11. THE TRIAL. Beck entered the dock at Leicester Crown Court on 17th September 1991.