http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/breaking-news/uk-ireland/church-pays-woman-drugged-at-home-14868828.html
The Church of England has paid "substantial" damages to a woman who claimed she was heavily sedated during her time at a children's home, it has been disclosed.
Teresa Cooper, 43, accepted the out-of-court settlement from church authorities after alleging that she was abused and restrained with doses of tranquillisers and other drugs.
A BBC investigation last year revealed that some girls who were heavily sedated while living at Church of England-run Kendall House in Gravesend, Kent, in the 1970s and 1980s went on to have children with a range of birth defects.
According to files from Kendall House, which is no longer a children's home, girls were given massive doses of a number of drugs over long periods of time.
Former resident Ms Cooper's three children all have birth defects and she has fought an 18-year campaign to secure justice, she said. Her eldest son was born with respiratory difficulties, her second son was born blind and developed learning difficulties, and her daughter was born with a cleft palate and a short lower jaw.
Ms Cooper, who left the home in 1984 at 16, was given medication at least 1,248 times over a 32-month period. This included three major tranquillisers, drugs to counter side-effects and anti-depressants, including up to 10 times the current recommended dose of Valium.
The Diocese of Rochester said it has not admitted liability but said it hopes Ms Cooper would now be able to move on with her life. In a statement, it said: "Although Ms Cooper instructed a legal firm, no legal proceedings were issued. In reaching a settlement, no admissions of liability were made. It is our fervent hope that the terms of the settlement agreed will assist Teresa Cooper move forward with her life."
Ms Cooper, a writer who lives near Chelmsford, Essex, said she would like a public apology from the church. She said: "The settlement is a step in the right direction. The church has worked with me on an equal level, which took a long time to achieve and I'm quite happy with what they have done. But I would like them to investigate what happened, what went wrong and to investigate the drugs that were used that saw girls go on to have children with birth defects.
"There are lots of things the church can do and which I believe is their Christian duty to do, and I would also like a public apology at the Synod. Hopefully, we will now get justice for the other girls."
A statement through her solicitors, Lavelle Coleman, said: "In a recent settlement, Teresa Cooper has received substantial High Court damages and has concluded her years of effort to secure justice in her case. Represented by Lavelle Coleman solicitors and Elizabeth Anne Grumble QC, Teresa was finally vindicated and her pain and suffering were properly acknowledged."
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'Sedation link' to birth defects
ReplyDeleteback story - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7985912.stm
CofE accused of conducting cover up
The Church of England has been accused of conducting a cover up over allegations that it drugged girls in one of its children's homes in the 1970s and 1980s. An investigation by Today reporter Angus Stickler reveals that a senior member of staff accessed and removed files from archives - despite assurances that he did not do so. The Church has also deliberately withheld documents from one former resident. Last month the BBC revealed that girls who were heavily drugged in the home have gone on to have children with birth defects.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8063000/8063155.stm
Jeremy
This type of psychiatric abuse really shows up the state co-ordinated 1 in 4 public facing anti-stigma showcasing as the cynical and fraudulent deflection it is as once again we see evidence of an institution run by a powerful establishment player , the Church of England , at the forefront of routine systemic psychiatric abuse, this time against children.
ReplyDeleteFor all the high profile media exposure of real documented psychiatric abuse like this people with mental health issues or even those just deemed to have them have no more real legal rights as citizens once they have been labelled by the psychiatric industry.
It isn't just the abuse of psychiatric drugs either, the use of force , coercion and bullying .
is rife within Britain's state mental health services and those run by charity providers like Mind , Together and Rethink , organisations that also claim , without any acknowledgement of conflicting interests , to advocate for their service users.
State services and the charities steer the 1 in 4 campaign to finger point and apportion blame outwards away from themselves and blame the general public for the stigma and discrimination people with mental health problems have traditionally faced.
It is to do with power..isn't it? And those who prey on the most vulnerable being given free access to do so.
ReplyDeleteIn spite of some half hearted apology from the Pope (done because it got past the point where covering up worked)....there are, I believe, many many people who still haven't come forward (for whatever their reasons are) who were abused by priests.
The more you supress fundamental human nature...and the spirit of what people are...the more it gets perverted.
Jung (and like all psycho-obsessives he was not without his own issues) wrote much about the shadow.
Sadly, modern society (those with the control) have tried to eliminate that which is part of all of us...with it's fekkin social engineering.
They can kosh and bully ..and they will... but in so doing they are destroying parts of themselves as they destroy others. It's all rather sad but I feel genuinely sorry for people who are the brutalised and much anger towards those who inflict the damage.