Editorial
| Pages | 101-104 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JAP-04-2017-0019 |
| Date | 12 June 2017 |
| Published date | 12 June 2017 |
| Author | Bridget Penhale,Margaret Flynn |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Adult protection,Safeguarding,Sociology,Sociology of the family,Abuse |
Bridget Penhale and Margaret Flynn
Welcome to this issue of the Journal of Adult Protection. As ever, there are a number of recent
news items relating to safeguarding issues that have appeared in the past few months that
readers may have missed, or which may be worthy of further consideration. A selection of these
items appears below.
During February, the UK human rights lawyer Phil Shiner was struck off for 12 charges of proved
misconduct by the solicitors’disciplinary tribunal[1]. Having uncovered shocking evidence of
brutality and unlawful killing by British soldiers during the Iraq war, including that of Baha Mousa,
this is a sad outcome. Without the work of the now defunct law firm, Public Interest Lawyers,
service officers who were aware of abuses would have remained silent. A further outcome
currently sought by the Conservative government would enable the British military to opt out of
the European Convention on Human Rights in future conflicts[2].
More abuse allegations, this time centring on Christian youth camps, came to light during
February[3]. John Smyth subjected young men to horrific beatings during the late 1970s and
early 1980s. John Smyth was not reported to the police at the time and he has escaped
prosecution as he immigrated to Zimbabwe. However, once there, he was the subject of fresh
allegations of physical abuse[4]. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has issued an
unreserved apology.
Also during February, in Australia the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child
Sexual Abuse revealed the scale of Catholic child abuse, including disclosures of historical
abuse. It was reported that at least one in 14 of Australia’s Catholic priests were accused of
sexually abusing over 4,000 children during the six decades since 1950[5]. Their victims were
largely either ignored or punished.
Durham police’s Operation Seabrook began during 2013. This operation/enquiry hinges on the
former inmates of Medomsley detention centre[6]. Although victims complained to the police
about abuse, no action was taken. Neville Husband was imprisoned for eight years during 2003
for committing sex attacks on young inmates. His sentence was increased to ten years when
other victims disclosed attacks. Although he and accomplice Leslie Johnson have since died, the
police are seeking to establish whether others associated with the abuses may be brought to
justice in future[7].
March was an especially hard month for the UK. Kevin Hyland, the UK’s anti-slavery
commissioner criticised police forces for failing to tackle slave trafficking in relation to work on
cannabis farms[8]. There has not yet been a successful prosecution irrespective of the hundreds
of young people trafficked from Vietnam every year.
A patchwork quilt with 598 squares was displayed in Westminster Hall to mark International
Women’s Day. Each square represented a woman killed by a partner or an ex-partner between
2009 and 2015[9].
A lone driver deliberately mounted the Westminster Bridge pavement, struck and injured around
50 pedestrians, killing five of them and then crashed into the railings around the parliament
building and stabbed and killed policeman Keith Palmer[10]. Lone attacker Khalid Masood’s
mayhem was as challenging as all other lone attackers are to a country’s domestic security, as
has been seen elsewhere. Yet, the responses of solidarity and gratitude for the actions of the
security forces, politicians and the public were unlikely to have been Masood’s purpose. As the
victims are mourned, the futility of such arbitrary killings is painfully clear.
DOI 10.1108/JAP-04-2017-0019 VOL. 19 NO. 3 2017, pp. 101-104, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1466-8203
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Editorial
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