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  The weekend really started on Thursday evening when Mr Norris discovered that a bed had been set on fire in one of the Clwyd dormitories. Mr Matthews reported this to me at home at about 11.30 on Thursday evening. The matter was left to Friday with Mr Wood staying on a waking watch in Clwyd. Friday morning Mr Stritch took over and referred the matter to Fire Service and Police. Mr Norris continued his investigations both within Clwyd and at the Police Station. Late on Friday afternoon Mr Norris established beyond doubt that resident A had deliberately started the fire in resident B's bed as an act of revenge for a fight he had had earlier with B and out of which he had come badly. I agreed with Mr Norris's premise that we were faced with two choices (a) to seek the instant removal of resident A either to a place beyond Bryn Estyn or to transfer him to Main School, (b) to work this out with the Clwyd boys and establish with them a rapport and climate into which resident A could fit aided by them, seeming (sic) their forbearance and co-operation in enabling resident A to come to terms with the group and his traumatic removal from Fifeshire and home. I supported Mr Norris in this more risky yet purposeful endeavour although Mr Norris would be away for the weekend and promised to support the Clwyd staff throughout Friday night and the weekend. Friday night was again a disturbed night for A and Mr Wood, since one of A's cries of distress is to suffer asthma attacks or feel very ill in the early hours of the morning. A does suffer from asthma - but to our untutored eyes not as dramatically as he would portray. Saturday found that A was still at an ill peace with his group and I again discussed with Mrs Bew whether I should remove him. With support he managed to survive Saturday and slept slightly better. The whole situation is still risky since we have no certainty that A at a minute's notice will not disappear and recommence his arson. Thus against A's undoubted needs, there has to be placed as an equal factor the safety of the other fourteen boys in this group, not to mention the expensive building and its equipment. As of Sunday evening the situation is 'holding' and during meals I have observed that A seems a little less fraught and more at ease with the group. He is also avidly seeking their attention and staff attention, giving them his food and asking staff for favours.

  Within the main school Friday evening was quiet, somewhat fraught by a noticeable banding together of residents C, D, E, F and G. The pressure became more tense when Miss Evans brought back D from the Youth Club, after a minor disagreement there when he refused to accept Miss Evans's authority. He sat with C discussing absconding but presumably the thunderstorm put them off. A party went withMr Martin plus other staff to the Open Day at the Fire Station, marred only by the fact that residents H and I failed to return with the party. It was assumed incorrectly that they would be chasing around Wrexham after girls and accordingly I waited until six o'clock to notify the police. They had still not returned by late Sunday evening and presumably are farther afield than Wrexham.

  Miss Evans phoned from the Rugby Club around six, that she had seen four boys on the Club's property and we found that C, D, F and G had left the School through the upstairs fire escape. Mr McLeod and Mr Martin went in the school bus, to seek these four, I drove down Cefn Road on the same errand. Later I met Mr McLeod with D in the school bus returning to the school. He told me that Mr Martin was still in pursuit of three boys. We both independently searched again down Cefn Road, but failed to see either boys or Mr Martin. We returned to the school, to see Mr Martin returning with C and F. D was with Mr Green in the office, in a belligerent mood, and after Mr Martin reported that C, actively encouraged by G, had threatened him with a knife (albeit a table knife), I decided to remove all boys and Mr Green with me to the Secure Unit. The main purpose of this was less to use the security afforded in locked cells, than to have a place removed from the gawping crowd of boys to whom had permeated the more dramatic details, and anxiously sought to be involved in the discussion. We separated D and C into a cell each, saw F who agreed to the absconding, witnessed the knife threats, and had actively co-operated with Mr Martin in disarming C and bringing him back to the school. G's imprecations and abuse, together with his wild demeanour had led Mr Martin to abandon pursuit of him and return with the two boys he had with him. It must be appreciated that Mr Martin was on his own, some mile from the school, and could have been in a precarious position if all three boys had chosen to band against him, that he behaved with excellence and brought a highly charged situation under control, with a two-thirds satisfactory conclusion.

  Within the Secure Unit, both C and D had calmed considerably and separately had talked of their fears and worries. C accepted that his particular action was highly dangerous, and if it were officially reported would lead to some severe action from Magistrates in his forthcoming court case. Both boys were taken out of their dirty wet clothes and bathed, dressed in dressing-gowns and settled to watch television. At this point, Mr Rees brought through to us J who had been sniffing glue with K. He was closely followed by K, who was in his usual post glue condition of uncaring and belligerence. We bathed these two also, and then left them also watching T.V. I went for a meal and returned to the group. Again I went through the problems they complained of with each boy and for what it is worth extracted some degree of contact from them. I do not rate these contacts as other than ephemeral, with no lasting consistency. They were put to bed in their dormitories at normal bed-time, except for K who I isolated in an empty dormitory since he would have spent much of the early night retailing his stories to the others, and it seemed pointless to allow this.

  I left the school at 12.15, having checked with the night staff that they were settled, and asking them to inform me if they needed help or there were any other problems. At that time, G, H and I were still missing and I reiterated this to Police Control.

  On Sunday morning I was phoned at home by Mrs Williams, who had returned home on Saturday evening towards midnight and found G with a neighbour. It seems he had been there some two hours or so. She ascertained that he was indeed missing, phoned the police and cancelled him as an absconder and kept him for the night. She offered to keep him for the remainder of Sunday, but I asked her to bring him in to the school and she brought him at 11.30 am as requested. I saw him briefly but since he had discussed most of his immediate worries with Mrs Williams, it seemed pointless to cover the same ground. I reminded him of his share in the scene with Mr Martin and advised him of the difficulties he now faced. He agreed with this and there I left the matter, returning him to the main group. He quickly was surrounded by his friends and seemed to enjoy telling them of his escapade and return. I note that his right wrist was marked, but not lacerated, where he tells me he had used a bottle on his wrist. He seemed unnaturally elated throughout the day, asking for fresh favours and seeming mildly surprised when his requests were not immediately granted.

  Sunday evening, I, with the staff on duty, closed down very firmly at around 7.30, video films were provided by Mr Martin and the large majority of boys settled to watch these. Interestingly enough, G again wanted to do something different, could he play pool. C and B were not enthusiastic at having to stay in one place but seemed to settle to it. From staff comments, D was a little subdued from his previous night's experience, but C is still talking of absconding. He had a visit from his foster parents on Sunday afternoon, but was reluctant initially to see them. He seems committed to the idea that he is on his way to a custodial sentence and there is little point in settling.

GBA/CH

20 July, 1982