Chapter 25: The case of Roger Saint : Department of Health

25.01 Roger Platres Saint was born on 11 May 1947 in Somerset and educated in South Wales. He left school at the age of 15 years and first undertook residential care work six years later in 1968. In the intervening period he had been variously employed, firstly in his father's business and later as a laboratory assistant, in catering and then in the cinema business. His first work in residential care was as a supervisor at a boys' remand home at Winchester, where he remained for a year; and he then worked successively at a children's home in Wednesfield (becoming Officer-in-Charge for a short period), as a relief superintendent of children's homes in Wiltshire and as Deputy Superintendent of a children's home near Salisbury.

25.02 It was whilst he was in the latter employment that Saint was convicted, on his own plea of guilty, on 9 June 1972 at Neath Magistrates' Court, of an indecent assault upon a boy aged 12 years, who was a stranger to him. The police statement of the facts of that offence alleged that on 6 March 1972 the victim had been walking with his dog along a road in Neath when Saint drove past him in a motor car. The boy then walked into a field intending to return to his home. Saint stopped his motor car, walked back towards the boy and called to him on the pretence of asking for directions. The boy stopped and Saint then caught him around the waist and tried to open the boy's trouser band and place his hand on the boy's private parts. The boy struggled and Saint then released him, whereupon Saint returned to his motor car and drove off. Saint was interviewed later and admitted responsibility, making a statement under caution.

25.03 Despite his plea of guilty in June 1972 Saint has since persistently denied that there was any indecent intent or motivation on his part in the assault and he has sought to explain his plea at the Magistrates' Court by saying that he was not legally represented. The account that he has given, which he repeated in his evidence to the Tribunal, is that the incident occurred at a time when he was staying with friends in Neath following the breakdown of a long standing friendship with a girl, whom he had hoped to marry. During his stay he drove out into the country alone to revisit childhood haunts and, whilst he was walking, the boy approached him and asked the time, whereupon he attacked the boy unjustifiably for a mixture of reasons: he felt angry at being "invaded" and reminded of his work in a children's home. The boy ran away and police officers took him to a police station shortly afterwards, where he admitted pushing the boy but did not (to his knowledge) admit any sexual impropriety.

25.04 In the light of the police statement of facts, Saint's plea at the time and subsequent events in Saint's life we have no doubt that he was rightly convicted of indecent assault in June 1972. We were unimpressed by both his explanation for his plea and his account of what had occurred between him and the boy.

25.05 Saint was fined £15 for the offence and ordered to pay £8 advocates fee. He was ordered also to contribute £10 towards his legal aid, which is inconsistent with his allegation that he was not legally represented. The facts set out in paragraph 25.02 were reported to the Home Office Police Department (F 1 Division) by the Chief Constable by letter dated 19 June 1972, in which Saint's current appointment was specified.

25.06 Saint was initially suspended from his employment and he resigned just before his conviction, according to his statement to the Tribunal. Afterwards he worked for a time as a debt collector but it seems that he was appointed to another post of Deputy Warden, this time of a voluntary children's home with education in Manchester, within about a year. It must be assumed that he did not inform the Boys and Girls Welfare Society, who ran that children's home, of his conviction but his next employers, at a children's home in Barry, South Glamorgan, became aware of it two or three months after his appointment as Officer-in-Charge and he was asked to leave.

25.07 Saint's connection with Clwyd began in December 1976 when he purchased a house in Holywell with his wife Carol, whom he had met when he was working in Manchester and whom he married on 6 March 1976 at West Kirby. Following his departure from Barry and a short period of unemployment, Saint had secured an appointment in the Wirral from 1 March 1975 as "Officer-in-Charge of Childcare" (his description) at a residential establishment for children known as the Children's Convalescent Home and School (later called West Kirby Residential School). According to his statement to the Tribunal his work in this capacity involved management of the staff rather than the children, although he did have "some minor contact with the children", and he retained the post for ten years. However, in the documents before the Tribunal he was consistently described as an RCCO at the West Kirby home and school (it appears that there were 160 children and 40 staff).

25.08 Roger Saint pleaded guilty on 7 March 1997, in the Crown Court at Mold, to offences of indecent assault upon two pupils at the West Kirby home and school, the first between 31 March 1975 and 31 December 1978 and the second between 1 January 1976 and 31 December 1979. These offences did not come to light until May and June 1996. They involved masturbation (and forced mutual masturbation) of very young boys who had health problems such as asthma, eczema and epilepsy. One of the boys had been taken by Saint to his house at Holywell, where an indecent assault had occurred. Three other counts alleging offences against two other West Kirby pupils were not proceeded with on Saint's pleas of not guilty to them.

25.09 Carol Ann Saint, who is nearly six years older than Roger Saint and who had been married previously for 17 years, had five children of that earlier marriage, born between 1959 and 1965. Two of those children, a boy (A) born on 23 July 1963 and a girl (B) born on 25 March 1965, moved with their mother to form part of the initial Saint household from July 1975.

25.10 A was a child who was emotionally disturbed and who had attended the Manchester home where Saint worked in 1973/1974, which was the background to the Saints' first meeting. He moved from the Saint household to live with his natural father before July 1977. There is no record of any contemporary complaint by him against Roger Saint but in December 1996 he alleged that he had been indecently assaulted regularly by Saint. The latter pleaded guilty in March 1997 to a specimen count in respect of these assaults, alleged to have occurred in the boy's bedroom when he was living in the Saint household; and the assaults again involved masturbation of the boy, who was then a young teenager.

25.11 The girl B continued to live with her mother and Roger Saint, at least nominally, until about 1982. At some stage she had become a student nurse at a psychiatric hospital, where she lived in, returning home for days off and holidays. We are not aware of any complaint by her of ill-treatment by her mother or by her step-father and contemporary documents suggest that she enjoyed a good relationship with the latter.

The Saints' dealings with Clwyd Social Services Department and the latter's failure to acquire knowledge of Roger Saint's 1972 conviction

25.12 Carol Saint first approached Clwyd Social Services Department in June 1977 in response to an advertisement for foster parents for a family group of children. The enquiry was dealt with by a social worker in the Delyn Area Office and she advised the Saints that they should resolve a number of domestic issues before proceeding further. These related to behavioural problems of the children A and B, who had not decided at that time whether they wished to continue to live with their mother or move to live with their father. At this time the Saints had applied for two posts as houseparents but wished to foster also.

25.13 In April 1978 the Saints again approached Clwyd Social Services Department, wanting to adopt a baby or a very young child. They had also applied to Cheshire, to foster a young boy. An application to adopt through the Adoption Resource Exchange[337] was processed by the social worker who had dealt with them the previous year and she made a number of home visits (all documented) to discuss the application and to gather information about the Saints' background and motivation. The Saints provided the names of two personal referees. Roger Saint did not disclose his previous conviction but the Saints authorised Clwyd to approach the North Wales Police to check whether any convictions were recorded in respect of either of them. Medical reports were obtained and the standard application Form F, recommended by BAAF[338], was completed in October 1978. This showed that the Saints wished to adopt one, or preferably two, children of the same family up to eight years old. The social worker's report to the local authority's Adoption Panel was in positive terms and the Saints were approved as adoptive parents on 5 December 1978.

25.14 In the Form F no reference was made to Roger Saint's employment at Barry in or about 1974 that had been terminated because of his 1972 conviction and no period of unemployment was disclosed. The incorrect details given were that he had been Deputy Superintendent of a Wiltshire Children's Home from 1971 to 1973 and then Deputy Warden of the (Manchester) home for severely emotionally disturbed children from 1973 to 1975 leading to his West Kirby appointment as "Deputy Superintendent". We have no doubt that these details were deliberately falsified by Roger Saint in order to reduce the risk that Clwyd might become aware of his previous conviction.

25.15 Before the Saints were approved as adoptive parents the Social Services Department had enquired of the North Wales Police on 18 August 1978 whether anything was known about them. The reply by letter stated incorrectly that nothing detrimental was known in respect of either. The explanation given by North Wales Police for this lapse is that "in 1978 there was no readily available facility to check a person against a national collection of persons with criminal records held at New Scotland Yard". The only check made by the police in 1978 was of the records held by them at their Colwyn Bay headquarters and, because Saint had had no connection with North Wales in 1972, his conviction at Neath had not been communicated to them.

25.16 The result of this failure to check national records of convictions was that Clwyd Social Services Department remained ignorant of Roger Saint's 1972 conviction for nearly ten years until 10 February 1988. At that point Devon Social Services Department became aware of it through a check that they made following an approach by the Saints to them to adopt two Devon children. The Director of Social Services for Devon so informed Clwyd, who asked the North Wales Police to make a further check, which confirmed the conviction. The national police computerised record of convictions had been established in 1981.

25.17 There was another unfortunate aspect of the inquiries made by Clwyd in 1978. Among the referees nominated by the Saints in support of their adoption application were a couple whose name and address in Neath suggest that they were the friends with whom Roger Saint had been staying at the time of his offence in March 1972. It is likely, therefore, that they were aware of the subsequent conviction. However, West Glamorgan County Council reported to Clwyd on 15 December 1978 that they had been unable to contact the Neath referees at the address given, despite repeated visits and letters. It is odd that they could not be tracked down, with or without the assistance of the Saints, but they were not apparently pursued further and Clwyd relied upon references from an Holywell neighbour of two years' standing and a senior physiotherapist who knew Roger Saint in his recent working capacity at West Kirby.

25.18 There was another missed opportunity to learn of Saint's conviction four years later. On 23 November 1982 Tower Hamlets Social Services Department informed Clwyd that it was presenting the Saints to an Adoption Panel on 3 December 1982 as prospective adoptive parents for two brothers aged 14 and 13 years; and Clwyd Social Services Department was asked to make a fresh check with the North Wales Police to ascertain whether either of the Saints had criminal convictions. The evidence before us indicates, however, that Clwyd failed to request the check by the police and that Tower Hamlets failed to pursue the matter.

25.19 In the event not less than 11 children were placed with the Saints in the period between December 1978 and February 1988, although only two of these were placed by Clwyd Social Services Department[339].

25.20 The first placement chronologically was arranged privately with a view to adoption and was made on 7 December 1978, only two days after Clwyd had approved the Saints as adoptive parents. The child in question was a boy, born on 23 November 1978 at the H M Stanley Hospital in St Asaph and diagnosed later as suffering from cystic fibrosis. He was adopted by the Saints on 13 July 1979. It is clear that the arrangement was made directly by the child's mother with the Saints but appropriate welfare supervision visits were made by the social worker referred to in paragraphs 25.12 and 25.13 between 15 December 1978 and 26 June 1979. We are not aware of any complaint made by this boy against either of the Saints and he was still living in the household in September 1997.

25.21 The two boys, C and D, placed by Clwyd with the Saints went to them on 20 April 1979. They were brothers born on 3 March 1969 and 6 March 1970 respectively and had been in the care of Clwyd for most of their lives. After an earlier failed attempt at fostering in 1974 they had been living at Llwyn Onn children's home at Rhos-on-Sea[340]. C remained with the Saints only until 23 March 1980 whilst D remained 16 months longer, until 27 July 1981.

25.22 There is evidence of some lack of effective liaison within Clwyd Social Services Department in relation to the placement of these two boys, who were under the aegis of the Wrexham Area Office, whereas the boy already placed with the Saints for adoption was the responsibility of Delyn Area. It is unnecessary to go into detail about this because it did not affect the ultimate outcome significantly. Wrexham appears to have pressed ahead with the placement with a view to long term fostering, whilst Delyn would have preferred it to have been delayed until the adoption of the other boy had been approved by the Court. There were, however, eight contacts between Clwyd's fostering officer and the Saints between 5 December 1978 and 5 March 1979 in relation to the latter's application to foster children before the Social Services Sub-Committee approved the application on or about 13 March 1979.

25.23 Both C and D were disturbed children who had suffered rejection in the past and the placement with the Saints was unsuccessful for both of them. Difficulties with the boys' behaviour, particularly with that of C, emerged early on. Roger Saint was not very sensitive and tended to talk above the boys' heads. The Wrexham Area social worker made regular visits and was aware of the situation.

25.24 On 14 October 1979 and 11 January 1980 both boys ran away. On the first occasion they were picked up by the police and taken to Holywell police station. They gave the police the impression of being unhappy and a Social Services Department Duty Officer was called. They complained of physical abuse by both foster parents including smacking them across the face, pulling their hair and, on occasion, kicking them upstairs. The boys stayed for two nights at Little Acton Assessment Centre whilst the situation was investigated. Although the Saints denied their allegations, except that Roger Saint admitted spanking C the previous Sunday, the social worker was impressed by the ring of truth in the boys' complaints. In the end, however, D wanted to return to the foster home and C also wanted to do so if his preferred alternative of returning to Llwyn Onn was not possible.

25.25 When the boys ran away again in January 1980 they were found in St Asaph and by this time the Saints were doubtful whether they (the Saints) wanted them to remain. Roger Saint said he felt inhibited in dealing with their misbehaviour because he was not allowed to smack the boys and he complained also that he was not receiving realistic payment to meet the costs incurred as a result of their destructive behaviour. By this time the social worker had become very doubtful whether it was wise for C to remain with the Saints, bearing in mind that they were expressing dislike of him openly. On the other hand, the Saints were pressing Clwyd for a further placement.

25.26 Matters came to a head in relation to C by the beginning of March 1980. C was showing serious signs of disturbance and was "generally in a bad state". Saint thought that the placement of another child would make him feel more secure but three social workers thought that it would impose additional strain and would not provide a stable situation for a newly placed child. By 18 March, C was again wanting to leave and a social worker inferred that he was causing further damage to provoke his removal. She removed him eventually on 22 March 1980; he subsequently spent periods mainly at Bersham Hall, Tanllwyfan (for nearly four years)[341], Chevet Hey and Cartrefle community homes and nearly a year with other foster parents in Old Colwyn before his admission to Chevet Hey.

25.27 C gave oral evidence to the Tribunal about his experiences in community homes but his statement to the police made on 27 March 1996 about his life with the Saints was read to us later, after Roger Saint's appearance at Mold Crown Court on 7 March 1997. He said that he had not liked the placement from the beginning; he had been hit frequently by Roger Saint but never by Carol. He usually received a hard slap to the face but it never left a bruise. C referred to two specific incidents when he had been wrongly accused of misbehaviour and slapped about the head by Saint when he denied that he was to blame. Carol Saint had been present on some of the occasions when he had been slapped. Saint had also made him stand in a corner at times.

25.28 C did not complain, whilst he was with the Saints, of any indecent assault upon him but in the police statement referred to in the preceding paragraph he did allege that Roger Saint had handled his penis on one occasion. This incident had occurred in the bathroom at the Saints' Holywell home on an occasion when he was sitting on Roger Saint's knee. It was the subject of a count of indecent assault in one of the three indictments against Saint before the Crown Court at Mold to which the latter pleaded not guilty; and that count was ordered, with others, to remain on the Court file on the usual terms[342].

25.29 In his oral evidence to the Tribunal Saint denied any indecent assault upon C and also denied slapping C or smacking him as a matter of practice. He had no recollection of speaking to social workers about the matter but he did remember causing a bruise to C's leg when admonishing the latter for not doing his homework. He commented "I think I was a bit too strict".

25.30 As we have already said, D remained with the Saints until 27 July 1981. The social worker responsible for him remained watchful of the situation. For some time D seemed to be secure in the household although Roger Saint was hard to please and prone to exert pressure on him. On 24 April 1981, however, following a two day stay by D with his grandparents and complaints by him to them of being caned and smacked by Saint, the social worker was able to elicit fuller details from D of the pressure being exerted by Saint on the boy about his school work and of the persistent physical chastisement to which he was being subjected. D was worried about the repercussions of his discussion with the social worker and she agreed not to take up his complaint with the foster parents without telling him first.

25.31 Various appropriate steps were taken by the social worker following these disclosures, including a helpful discussion with D's headmaster, and on 13 July 1981 she learnt from D's grandparents that he wanted to leave the Saints but was afraid of them being told. D confirmed this when seen by the social worker at school and he was duly removed ten days later, without prior warning to the Saints, by the social worker and the Deputy Area Officer. Although the Saints were not confronted with details of the latest allegations, the social worker noted that they were unable to accept any responsibility themselves for D's attitude and suggested that D had been influenced by his grandparents.

25.32 D had been in care from the age of four months but, on leaving the Saints, he went to live with his grandparents in Wrexham for a short time and then with his mother for about two years in Shropshire. In his oral evidence to the Tribunal he said that he did not enjoy a minute of his time at home with his mother: there were difficulties at home and at school and he put himself in a children's home "with the help of a couple of black eyes from (his) mother". He remained in care until his 18th birthday and his further schooldays were spent mainly at Ysgol Talfryn, whilst living at Cartrefle at week-ends and then with a teacher at the school who fostered him for just over a year. When giving evidence he said "the social services need to start to know how to go about after care", which we take to be a reference to the need for more effective social work involvement with young persons who are or have been in care in the post-school period.

25.33 D's account to the Tribunal of physical punishment by Roger Saint confirmed the complaints that he had made to his social worker and his grandparents at the time and was similar to that given by his brother C. He referred to three incidents when he and C had been wrongly accused of matters and C had taken the responsibility. D described also how he had been slapped by Saint about 20 times on the leg, on failing repeatedly to read or pronounce a word correctly, with the result that he had limped to bed and had a large bruise on his leg, which Saint bandaged in order to hide it. The bruise had been seen by his P E teacher when the bandage fell off but the teacher had not taken any action about it.

25.34 D did not complain at the time of sexual abuse by Roger Saint but he told the police about this in March 1996 and had told C the previous summer. In his oral evidence to the Tribunal D said that the sexual abuse began in the Saints' bathroom some weeks after C had left. Saint put D on his knee and masturbated him and this became a regular practice that continued until D himself left. It would occur in the bathroom as described or in his bedroom when he was lying down three or four times a week; and Saint would make a peculiar noise in his throat when it was happening. On one occasion Saint was interrupted in the bedroom by the girl B but her view of what was happening was obstructed and Saint told her to get out. On another occasion D had fallen asleep in his bedroom and awoke to find Saint "gobbling him off".

25.35 D agreed that his social worker had visited him about 20 times in a period of 22 months but said that he had not felt able to talk to her about the sexual abuse. Speaking more generally about potential complaints, he said that usually the social worker would be sitting there with his foster parents and himself. If there had been anything wrong he would not have been able to say anything; and, if he had said anything, he would have had to stay and face "the flak" once the social worker had left. He agreed, however, that he had seen his social worker alone on occasions whilst living with the Saints.

25.36 Roger Saint pleaded guilty in March 1997 to a specimen count alleging that he indecently assaulted D on a day between 20 April 1979 and 27 July 1981.

25.37 The social worker for D prepared an "End of Foster Placement Report" dated 9 October 1981 in respect of him, which was critical of the Saints' negative attitude towards contact between D and his grandparents and C. The report referred also to Roger Saint's very decided views and his limited understanding of the effect of constant pressure on a child. The writer thought that the Saints would do better with a very young child but would have problems with a child whose personality was already formed. In our judgment, however, this report was seriously defective because it contained only an indirect reference to the allegations of physical punishment, stating that the foster parents discussed problems openly but that, if D's allegations were true, they were not open about their own reactions. Moreover, the report did not provide a full relevant account (from the person with the fullest knowledge to judge) of Clwyd's experiences with these foster parents.

25.38 There is no documentary evidence to indicate that Clwyd Social Services Department had any further discussions, after D's removal, about the suitability of the Saints as foster parents (or adoptive parents). Moreover, bearing in mind the particular circumstances of D's removal, they should have discussed with the Saints D's further allegations of physical punishment and sought their response. The failure to confront the Saints weakened Clwyd's position in sharing information with others and, in effect, permitted the Saints to continue denying, not only to themselves but also to other agencies, that they had had difficulties in caring for C and D.

25.39 According to an unproved chronology in the documents before us the Delyn (Area) Office stated on 11 December 1981 that the Saints were "not on active list" of foster parents but we have not received any oral evidence to clarify their position. According to Roger Saint's statement to the Tribunal he and his wife did foster three brothers for Clwyd for a long week-end around the end of 1981 but the placement ended because of a health risk; and nothing of substance turns upon this. From the information available to us, it appears that there was no significant further placement (boarding out) by Clwyd of any child with the Saints after D's departure.

25.40 What is clear is that from 1981 onwards the Saints sought fostering and adoption opportunities further afield. According to Roger Saint, he and his wife did so at the suggestion of Clwyd's Adoptions Officer, who also introduced them to "Be My Parent", a publication produced by British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering and providing information about children in need of families, through which he made contact with the London Borough of Ealing. Saint also came across PPIAS[343], a national self-help group of mainly adoptive parents, through whom he approached other authorities, including the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

25.41 Approaches of this kind to other local authorities were being made by the Saints at the time when D was removed from their care. In April 1981 they were in touch with the London Borough of Ealing about the placement of two teenage boys but this did not proceed because they failed to bond with the children. Ealing were warned orally by D's social worker about the Saint's high expectations of, and pressure upon, children (rather than physical danger) and an Ealing social worker noted that Roger Saint did not accept any responsibility for the breakdown of C's fostering. In July 1981 the London Borough of Greenwich also was considering a placement with the Saints and had at least two telephone conversations about the removal of D with D's social worker, in which mention was made of the alleged physical abuse. The latter, was however, more concerned about the emotional effects on the boy of the way in which he had been dealt with by the Saints: she did not think that the foster home should be proscribed altogether but that careful selection of any child to be placed there would be needed. In the event Greenwich decided by the end of August 1981 not to use the Saints as foster parents; and enquiries by the London Borough of Brent and Nottinghamshire in the following year led to the same result.

25.42 It is necessary to mention one other development at about this time in which Clwyd was directly involved. On 5 March 1982 Cheshire County Council placed a young boy, E, born on 14 July 1981, with the Saints with a view to adoption as their second adopted child. This placement was made through Clwyd's Adoption Agency, which was part of the local authority. An adoption order was duly made on or about 25 June 1982 by Holywell County Court and E, who has cerebral palsy and had special educational needs, remained with the Saints. We are not aware of any complaint by or in respect of him against either adoptive parent.

25.43 From 1982 until 1990 onwards the Saints' main involvement in respect of new placements was with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and this is dealt with in the next section of this chapter. They continued to live in Holywell until 15 December 1984, when they completed the purchase of a larger house at Llanarmon-yn-Ial, a village between Mold and Ruthin. They remained there until September 1990, when they moved out of Clwyd to a village near Bala in Gwynedd, where they planned to develop their house and to farm.

25.44 In relation to Clwyd the main relevant development in the intervening period was the appointment of Roger Saint as a member of the statutory Adoption and Foster Care Panel for Clwyd South. This occurred on or about 26 October 1987, after the Director of Social Services, Gledwyn Jones, had approved on 2 September 1987 Saint's nomination for the appointment by Clwyd's Adoptions Officer and by another member of the headquarters fostering and adoption group. The Saints were described in the nomination form as full-time "foster parents for Tower Hamlets . . . now providing care for six children including their own". Roger Saint was also then the local representative of PPIAS[344].

25.45 Thus, Saint became a member of the panel less than four months before the Director of Social Services learned on or about 10 February 1988 of Saint's 1972 conviction. The Director rightly took the view that it would be unwise for Saint to continue to be a member of the panel and he wrote on 11 March 1988 to the County Secretary, Roger Davies, expressing that view and seeking the County Secretary's advice. Astonishingly, the County Secretary did not reply to that letter despite a belated reminder 19 months later, dated 18 October 1989[345]. A hand-written note, which we have not seen, indicated that someone advised at some time that the matter should be dealt with under a Home Office Circular No 250/1964, which related to appointments to employment involving the care of children and was only marginally relevant. In the event no action was taken and Saint remained on the panel until Clwyd County Council ceased to exist on 31 March 1996.

25.46 In his written statement to the Tribunal, Roger Davies said that he had no memory of any issue relating to Saint and that neither the original request nor the reminder was brought to his attention as far as he could recall. In cross examination he conceded that he must accept responsibility for the failure to reply before October 1989; but he remained County Secretary until 1 August 1992, when he was appointed Chief Executive. Gledwyn Jones said in evidence that he would have spoken to the County Secretary or the latter's Deputy about the matter but he had no recollection of what was actually said.