The Sandyridge Scandal: Abused In Care

"Then you walk through the door, and you're in hell."

Amanda, 52, sits flicking through family photo albums, her curly brown hair rests on her shoulders, her lipstick is flawless, her clothing smart. The photos from the 1980s look like normal family snaps and show her playing with her siblings on the beach in Kent, eating ice cream and jumping in a pool with glee.

But they hide a sinister truth.

Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of physical and sexual child abuse that some readers may find distressing. 

She was just seven years old when she and her two siblings were sent to Sandyridge children's home in 1979. It was one of two unregistered children's homes which operated in Kent for almost 30 years and the trio were victims of daily physical and sexual abuse.

Amanda is one of six people who have spoken to Sky News for the first time about the trauma they suffered at the hands of Denis and Anne May, who ran the home.

The pair have now died and were never convicted of any crime.

Denis and Anne May

Two other sisters recalled how they were molested at bathtimes - one says her head was held under the freezing water until she was forced to sexually abuse another child. 

Victims reported their abuse to multiple authorities and the Mays were arrested in 1996 but never charged. They died escaping justice, but many are now calling for the case to be reopened.

'I HEARD MY BROTHER BEING RAPED'

Born in Tooting, Amanda and her siblings previously lived at several children's homes in south London, including the notorious Shirley Oaks in Lambeth which was involved in one of Britain's worst abuse scandals.

The family were then trafficked by what Amanda called a paedophile ring 70 miles away to Kent, where she says the abuse continued at the hands of Denis and Anne May who ran Sandyridge and Costa Villa children's homes.

These homes, despite being in Kent, housed children in care from London - more than 40 children were sent from Lambeth alone.

"The physical and sexual abuse was on a daily basis," says Amanda, her voice calm and matter of fact.

"I'd been sick, Denis came up - he always liked to play the nurse. He got a bowl of water, and he was washing me down.

"At this point I had no clothes on, and he's touching my private parts, and my backside, with his fingers."

Amanda speaks quietly when recalling her time at Sandyridge but remains composed. The trauma she and her siblings suffered there was a continuation of what befell them in south London.

Amanda is now speaking out about her time at the home

"When you've gone through two children's homes already, where you've been systematically abused, it becomes quite normal."

This warped version of normality included children being told they couldn't wear knickers or pyjamas to bed; waking up to find their foster father next to their beds, telling them he was just there to tuck them in.

Being masturbated while they slept and not understanding why their genitals were sore the next morning. Having their breasts touched while swimming. Hearing the cries of children being raped.

All three siblings allege they were molested but it was Amanda's younger brother, Jason, who suffered the most. He was just eight years old, when the abuse began.

Denis May would anally rape Jason, putting his hands over his mouth to block out the screams.

In later life, Jason struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, using substances to try and escape from the horror of Sandyridge.

He would later die of an accidental overdose, aged just 35.

'WE HAD TO ABUSE OTHER CHILDREN'

Sisters Winnie and Rose were taken into care by Brent social services in the mid-1980s and came to Sandyridge with their siblings.

They're now 46 and 49 and still very close - they constantly finish each other's sentences, the hell of what they went through deeply entwined in their relationship with each other.

The sisters sit on a park bench in north London, a few miles from where they initially grew up, as Winnie describes what happened to them.

"I was forced, and so was another child, to abuse each other. We'd be thrown like animals into the freezing cold bath, we'd physically - out of fear - wet ourselves."

She alleges they were held under the water until they complied. "Because we didn't want to die, we would have no option but to abuse each other."

'THEY CONSTANTLY USED RACIAL EXPLETIVES'

No one was immune to the violence in the homes.

Jake - not his real name - came to Sandyridge in 1980. He was a bright, well-spoken child who had come from a middle-class black family before being taken into care.

Now Jake smokes a cigarette outside his flat to calm his nerves as he recalls the racism and sexual abuse which awaited him at the home.

"They'd constantly use racial expletives, calling me the n-word," Jake says.

"It wasn't just what they said but how they said it, Denis May would foam at the mouth.

"Sometimes she would check my genitalia at the dining room table. If I was 'naughty' they were obsessed with stripping me naked and smacking my bottom, in full view of everyone".

Outside of both homes, Denis May projected an image of respectability in the local community. He was a school governor and chair of the local branch of the Folkestone and Hythe Conservative Association.

Through this role, he associated himself with the aspiring Conservative MP Michael Howard, who later became home secretary.

The children from the homes, like Amanda, say they were involved with the campaigning for general elections.

"I remember Michael Howard coming round with his wife and his daughter. We would have to fold all these campaign leaflets to post in letter boxes, we'd walk for miles," she says.

None of the children allege any misconduct by Michael Howard.

When approached by Sky News, Mr Howard said he was not "close friends" with Denis May and only knew him professionally through the local Conservative association.

WHY DID SOCIAL SERVICES NOT ACT?

Many children had the same Lambeth social worker, Charlie Elliot, who the Mays had personally requested as their point of contact with the council.

Sandyridge was eventually closed down, but no one was ever charged with a crime

It's understood that Elliott, a senior social worker, also abused a child in his care and he played an integral role within the paedophile ring, bringing children to Denis and Anne and ignoring their pleas for help.

An investigation was launched by Kent police after multiple victims gave statements to the force.

Charlie Elliot

Amanda first heard about it when Charlie Elliot rang her up and pressured her not to say anything bad about the Mays because they had been his "mum and dad", to which she responded: "You know the truth, I know the truth."

Elliot died in 1999 before any charges were brought against him.

It was the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association who discovered the truth of what had happened in the homes in Kent decades later.

A document from Lambeth children services in 1996 - which shows multiple children disclosed the abuse to Charlie Elliot but he took no action - was discovered by the organisation.

The document, which has not been made public until now, confirms what several victims have told Sky News about Elliot.

One victim told Elliot that Anne May had forced her to eat her own vomit after she had been sick at the dining room table.

Denis and Anne May were arrested in 1996.

The document shows Kent police had a list of 19 young people they wanted to interview about abuse in the home.

Police also said they would likely want to interview the social worker.

The briefing document also shows concerns were "strongly expressed" that Elliot was blocking the investigation.

Amanda gave a statement to the police but never heard anything. In 1997 Jake was also tracked down by the police who said they had been looking for him for over two years.

After he gave his statement, the police said they would come back to speak to him again, but he never heard from them.

While Denis and Anne were never charged, children were removed from their care and Costa Villa and Sandyridge were closed down.

The Shirley Oaks Survivors Association campaigns on behalf of the more than 700 victims from children's homes in south London who were abused from 1960 to the 1990s. Many of the children who went to Sandyridge, like Amanda, had previously spent time in similar institutions in Lambeth.

In 2017, after multiple victims came forward to the association, a second investigation was opened. But Denis died in 2019 and Anne in 2006, and no one has ever been prosecuted for what happened in the homes.

Denis died, escaping justice

Dr Raymond Stevenson, who runs the survivors association with Lucia Hinton, says not all the people connected to the homes are deceased and charges still need to be brought against them.

He says they won't give up the fight for justice: "Denis and Anne are dead but there's one other person who was a perpetrator, in Sandyridge, who is still alive. Also, we want to know the involvement of the police in covering this up, it feels like there is something which hasn't come to light."

Human rights lawyer, Imran Khan, is suing Kent Police on behalf of the victims from Sandyridge.

"This was either police incompetence, which means… the police failed to take action when they should have done," he says.

"We're also considering a second claim which is to pursue misconduct in public office, where the police deliberately, wilfully did not investigate when they knew they should have done."

In a statement to Sky News, Kent Police said the force "is committed to protecting victims of child abuse and bringing perpetrators to justice, and it is never too late to report a crime".

It added that: "Investigations into reports of non-recent child sexual abuse are some of the most complex that the force deals with and dedicated officers are in post to manage these cases... The force never gives up on victims."

Thanks to the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association, Lambeth Council opened a redress scheme which has paid over £100m in compensation to abuse victims who were in their care, including many of those who went to Sandyridge.

Children at the home were victims of racist, physical and sexual abuse

But children who were sent to the home from a different London borough haven't received any compensation or apology, despite clear failings in safeguarding.

Rose and Winnie are trying to get compensation for the horrific abuse that they claim their family experienced but it is not about the money for them.

They want Brent Council to accept liability, and Winnie says they deserve an apology.

"They had a duty to keep us safe and they failed us."

Both have suffered from eating disorders, while Rose struggles with depression and anxiety which has affected her ability to work.

"It's really important to us that we get some form of justice and recognition because we were meant to be safeguarded and we weren't," Rose says.

"Every child that's been there has had their life screwed up."

A Brent Council spokesperson said: "We're extremely sorry to hear about the harrowing trauma that the family has suffered at Sandyridge children's home. We will be more than willing to work with the family and their legal representatives when they approach us."

A spokesperson for Lambeth Council said it makes a "sincere and heartfelt apology to all victims and survivors of abuse and neglect while in Lambeth's care at the borough's former children's homes which were open from the 1930s to the 1980s and 1990s".

The council said it could not confirm what historical investigations had taken place, but said some were "rightly criticised for failing".

The statement added: "The historical events in relation to children placed in the care of the council, which included the conduct of former council staff, senior officers and councillors, were subject to a lengthy examination at the national inquiry.

"The council's co-operation with the national inquiry's investigation into Lambeth included sharing more than 300,000 pages of historical documents. The council of today is sadly unable to say why actions were not taken in the past, but we have endeavoured to uncover and share as much as possible."

'WE LIVED IN THAT HELLHOLE'

But while Winnie, Rose and Amanda fight for justice, not all victims are here to tell their stories.

Like Amanda's brother Jason, Winnie and Rose's brother Simon struggled to cope with the abuse he suffered and battled with addiction. He died aged 33 from liver failure.

Simon died aged 33

The Shirley Oaks Survivors Association says it knows of 17 victims from the homes, but given Lambeth Council alone has confirmed 41 children were placed there, those who are speaking out now want to encourage others to come forward.

All three women continue to forge a life without their brothers, taken from them by Denis and Anne May and their time at Sandyridge.

And even though both are dead, they believe there are still people who can be held to account in positions of authority. Their fight continues.

"All of us children that lived in that hellhole never got the justice we deserved.

"For people in high-powered jobs to deny children a voice, they are just as guilty as Denis and Anne."

HOW KENT POLICE INVESTIGATED THE CASE

Kent Police responded to our enquiry with the following explanation of how their investigation has unfolded since 1995.

"Between 2017 and 2022, Kent Police carried out a full and exceptionally thorough investigation into reports of abuse at a children's home in Greatstone between 1978 and 1996.

"The investigation was long and complex, involving meticulous analysis of evidence including multiple victim statements, witness accounts and key documentation relating to the period of time in question by diligent and dedicated police investigators. Throughout the process, detectives communicated regularly with victims to offer support and to update them as the case progressed.

"As part of their enquiries, officers revisited a comprehensive and detailed 1995 investigation into similar reports of offences at the home.

"Following that initial detailed investigation by Kent Police detectives of all available evidence, a case file was presented to the Crown Prosecution Service for consideration of charges however the CPS decision, on 29 October 1996, was that this could not progress to a charge as there was no realistic prospect of conviction and there were issues around a lack of corroborative evidence.

"An action raised in the 1995 investigation to obtain a statement from a key witness had been cancelled due to the individual suffering from a terminal illness. This person died shortly after the conclusion of the 1995 investigation.

 "In March 2019, during the later investigation, an individual arrested in December 2017 - and later released under investigation, pending further evidence – died. A second individual remained under investigation.

 "Officers continued their work on this highly complex and challenging investigation – including regular liaison with CPS lawyers to ensure no stone was left unturned. However, on 25 July 2022 the CPS gave its final decision that due to fundamental weaknesses in the evidence presented to, and uncovered by Kent Police there was not a reasonable prospect of conviction and the case did not proceed to charge.  

 "Officers kept all witnesses fully updated and informed as to the progress of the investigation, and about the rationale behind the case not progressing to trial."

-SKY NEWS