Council demands £7,000 a head in court costs from sex abuse victims at special ... trends now

Council demands £7,000 a head in court costs from sex abuse victims at special ... trends now
Council demands £7,000 a head in court costs from sex abuse victims at special ... trends now

Council demands £7,000 a head in court costs from sex abuse victims at special ... trends now

A group of former pupils who were raped and sexually assaulted by the deputy head and a care worker at a scandal-hit school say they've received demands from a council to pay court costs of thousands of pounds.

The group of ex-students were abused at Stubton Hall School, in Grantham, Lincs., between 1982 and 1997.

They are now trying to obtain their pupil records as they seek damages from Lincolnshire County Council, which ran the special needs school.

A hearing to try to obtain the documents was adjourned through no fault of the victims - and now the authority has allegedly demanded they pay their court costs.

The council has reportedly ordered the survivors to cough up £7,000 each for 'wasted costs' after the court case was adjourned.

Pupils have now accused the local authority of a 'sustained and reprehensible' campaign against them and asked: 'What have they got to hide?'

Deputy head David Taylor, 71, and care worker Raymond Longley, 86, were previously jailed in 2021 for raping and assaulting pupils at the school. 

David Taylor, 71, has been jailed for 19 years

Raymond Longley, aged 86, has been jailed for four years

David Taylor, 71, (left) and Raymond Longley, 86, (right) were both jailed in 2021

Clare (not her real name), who was a pupil between 1982 and 1987, was groomed and raped by Taylor and was pregnant with his child aged just 16.

She said that instead of handing over her school records, the council employed a senior barrister to argue why they should not be given access to them.

'What has the council got to hide,' she said

'I would like to ask them why they are being so obstructive and why they've hired an expensive barrister to try to stop us from accessing our own records?

'We've suffered another painful setback in our fight for justice and then to rub salt in the wounds, they want us to pay their costs.

'The behaviour of this council towards abuse victims is reprehensible. Haven't they caused enough damage already?

'I am desperate to start therapy having

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