Settled Cases

Oxley Parker was a residential establishment for boys located in Colchester, Essex. The school was open from 1972 until it closed suddenly in 1998.

 

Andrew Grove & Co. Solicitors acted for over 130 former pupils who made complaints of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse suffered during their time at the school. 

 

One former staff member Jonathan Bridgewater was convicted of numerous sexual offences against former pupils of the school in the early 1990s and was sentenced to over 10 years' imprisonment. Our investigations also involved other staff members of the school.

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If you were a former pupil at Oxley Parker School who suffered sexual abuse and have not been compensated, please contact us for advice. 

Whitmore Way Junior School and Vange School are both located in Basildon, Essex. It is a mainstream school owned and managed by Essex County Council. This firm has received historical complaints of sexual, physical and emotional abuse regarding a class teacher called Mr John Evans who worked at both schools. We acted for over 20 individuals. 

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All complaints received to date relate to the 1980s and 1990s only.  

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Proceedings were issued in July 2020 and settlements were negotiated in November 2021 and in 2022. 

Anyone who suffered sexual abuse at Whitmore Way School should contact us for advice.

The Old Rectory opened in 1974 and operated until 1992 when the school moved to larger premises and became known as Banham Marshalls College.

 

The school closed in 2004 after a damning Ofsted report and a Police investigation into abuse. The owner/manager George Robson and his brother Anthony Robson – known as Mr Thomas – were convicted of numerous child cruelty offences and sentenced in November and December 2007.

 

Group Litigation proceedings were commenced on 8th August 2008 and have now concluded. This firm has acted for over 120 claimants.

Oakwood School was a school for pupils with educational and/or behavioural difficulties. 
In 2015 the Headmaster Eric De Smith was found guilty of four indecent assaults and three charges of indecency with a child. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. Teacher Roger West and care staff member Michael Watts each admitted two charges of child cruelty and received fines and conditional discharges. 

Andrew Grove & Co. have achieved compensation for over 130 Claimants. The main action settled in 2016.

Ellindon was a school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties which closed in 1998 after allegations of abuse. 

 

A number of victims came forward and in 2008 over 140 former pupils who suffered at Ellindon received compensation, mostly for low level violence and ill treatment. A smaller number of pupils who were sexually abused received substantial damages.

 

Police investigations have taken place but no charges have been made against any former members of staff. 

 

This main group action concluded in 2008. 

Laverack was convicted in March 1997 and received 18 years imprisonment for numerous serious sexual offences against children in his care.

 

This firm acted for over 120 claimants who received compensation for the abuse they suffered.

We represented nine Claimants in a group action against Suffolk County Council. All were victims of music teacher and brass band leader Derek Cable. Cable was convicted of ten offences of indecent assault and eight offences of gross indecency against five boys. In September 2003 he was jailed for four years. 

 

This group action has now concluded with Claimants receiving compensation totalling £210,000. 

 

Derek Cable was charged with further offences of indecent assaults that took place an individual in the 1970’s. The trial took place in November 2014 and he was found guilty and sentenced to a further five years imprisonment. 

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Please contact us if you suffered any sexual abuse whilst at Stowmarket School.

Falling under Tower Hamlets Council, St Leonard’s Children’s Home was open from 1965 to 1984.

 

Former employees William Starling, Alan Prescott and Haydn Davies were all subject to criminal investigation. Starling was sentenced to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of sexual abuse offences. Prescott, a former magistrate and Labour councillor, was also sentenced to two years for similar offences. Criminal proceedings were dropped against Davies.

Newfield originally opened in 1846 as a 'training home for poor and friendless girls of Coventry and Leamington' and came to be known as 'Newfield School for Girls' in 1924.

 

Kevin Donaldson took charge of Newfield House as a small care home for girls and was there in 1970s and 1980s.

 

Donaldson was convicted of two rape offences and nine sexual assaults in 2006. He was given a 15 year sentence for these crimes.

 

Andrew Grove & Co. represented 14 Claimants in this class action and achieved settlements for each of them, totalling approximately £319,000. 

Bradbury was a paediatric haematologist at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge for five years. He was charged with a string of sexual offences against children in his care, including counts of sexual activity with a child, causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, vouyerism and the making of indecent images of a child. These all related to boys aged between 11 and 15 and dated back to around 2009. 

 

Bradbury was sentenced to 22 years' imprisonment for his crimes. Judge Hawesworth remarked that in all of his years at the bench, he said to the doctor that he 'had never come across a more culpable and grave course of sexual criminality which has involved such a gross and grotesque breach and betrayal of your Hippocratic Oath.'

 

The offences involved 18 complainants but since these criminal proceedings it is understood that further victims have come forward, which could mean that he is prosecuted again. As well as working at Addenbrookes he also held clinics at hospitals in Birmingham, Ipswich and Colchester. 

Swaylands School in Penshurst, Kent, was a residential school for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. 

 

On 27th May 2015 three former child care officers were convicted of historical sex offences against children. 

 

Colwyn Baker was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment after being found guilty of 17 charges of indecent assault, one of indecency with a child and two other serious sexual offences. David Hennessy was sentenced to 12 years after being convicted of six offences of indecent assault. Nigel Putman was convicted of two charges of indecent assault and was sentenced to three years imprisonment. 

 

We have represented former pupils of the school prior to this second police investigation. We now understand that as many as 70 victims have come forward as a result.

Elmbridge Boarding School was a school exclusively for boys located near Fyfield in Essex. It was previously known as 'Fyfield Boarding School' until it changed its name to Elmbridge in 1980. 

 

We received a number of complaints from former pupils of Elmbridge with allegations of abuse ranging from the 1980s to early 1990s.  

In 1998 a former music teacher at Elmbridge named John Stagg was convicted of sexual abuse offences against children at a school in Birmingham. In 2016 when Stagg was investigated by the police about Elmbridge he went on to commit suicide. 

Andrew Grove & Co. issued civil proceedings against Essex County Council in March 2019. The claims were settled in November 2021 and the firm achieved nearly £500,000 in compensation for the claimants we represented. 

We are still keen to hear from any one who has suffered sexual abuse at Elmbridge School.