Special schools firm settles out of court with pupil after Bristol abuse scandal

A young man with profound learning difficulties has received an out-of-court settlement from a company that runs special needs residential schools across the country after he was abused at a school in Bristol.

But no one has been prosecuted over the abuse at St Christopher’s School in Westbury Park, despite it suddenly closing in 2019 amid complaints from Bristol City Council that at least five children there were abused. Police admitted there was a legal loophole that prevented charges from being laid.

A Channel 4 investigation has confirmed that Jonah Maxwell and his family received an out-of-court settlement from Aurora, a company funded by private equity group Octopus Group, with the terms of the deal including Aurora not admitting liability. In a statement, the company said it was “saddened” not to be able to turn around the school after taking it over three years earlier.

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Bristol Live first broke the scandal at St Christopher’s School in July 2019, when the school and residential care home closed suddenly following allegations of child cruelty. At the time, council bosses and the police were involved, with Avon and Somerset Police confirming they were working with “multi-agency partners”, Ofsted announced, and confirmed some staff had been suspended.

On 1 August 2019, the council’s head of people’s services at the time, Dr Jacqui Jensen, told Bristol Live that police were “investigating allegations of child cruelty offenses relating to an independent residential special school and care center ” and added that Ofsted had issued a suspension notice, effectively closing the residential care home side of the school.

At the time, one of the families who spoke out about what happened was Jonah Maxwell’s. He was 16 at the time and his father Kevin told Bristol Live he was worried about the sudden closure, which left Jonah and other children living there without specialist support.

Jonah, who is autistic, non-verbal and has a profound learning disability, requires round-the-clock care and supervision.

Now a Channel 4 investigation has revealed that Jonah was one of the children who suffered abuse at the hands of a small number of staff there. Channel 4 reported that Jonah took Aurora to court for breaching his human rights, with his mother Anna explaining that although they knew the details of some of the allegations, he was woken up every two hours by a member of the group. personally, and pushed by another – may never know the full extent of Jonah’s ordeal.

Channel 4 also confirmed that no one was ever prosecuted for what happened at St Christopher’s. One member of staff left the country shortly afterwards, another denied it and was not charged, and police found they could not bring corporate charges against Aurora.

A statement from Avon and Somerset Police explained that because the residential care home was registered as part of a school, it was regulated by Ofsted and not the Care Quality Commission and, technically, that meant those in charge were not they could be held accountable. because the corporate law on abuse in a residential setting only applied in the care setting regulated by the CQC, not in schools.

“The material we reviewed confirmed that Aurora St Christopher’s was primarily a school,” a police spokesman said.

“It was regulated by Ofsted and not the Care Quality Commission. While staff were able to administer medication, they cannot prescribe medication and there was no routine doctor on site,” they added.

Bristol City Council confirmed that in August 2019 it issued a notice of serious harm to a child in relation to five or more children at St Christopher’s with allegations of child cruelty by professionals. At the time it was described as “serious harm and abuse”.

St Christopher’s itself never recovered, and following the closure of its residential side, the school closed entirely shortly afterwards, prompting a separate planning battle over the future use of the site over the past four years, which continues until 2024.

Aurora took over the school in 2016 and said in a statement that she believed she had tried to change the culture at the school, which eventually encouraged staff members to become whistleblowers and report the abuse.

“We remain saddened that families affected by the circumstances leading to the closure of St Christopher’s continue to feel distraught,” the company told Channel 4. “Aurora stepped in to save St Christopher’s, which was rated inadequate as a landlord previously, in response. to a parents’ campaign to prevent the proposed closure of a charity that could not continue to run it.

“We regret that despite our multi-million pound investment in improved facilities and staff, the plan to transform St Christopher’s into a vibrant and positive place to live and learn has not succeeded.

Read more: The scandal at St Christopher’s as it happened

“We have done everything we can to improve the culture and practice at St Christopher’s, including appointing a well-respected and experienced leadership team. This team introduced an effective whistleblowing policy which meant that a member of staff finally felt safe enough to report historical and ongoing concerns about a small number of colleagues.

“The individuals concerned were immediately suspended, which is standard practice in good children’s services while an investigation takes place. Concerns were duly reported by St Christopher’s management team to the local authority’s safeguarding team.

“We have worked closely with the relevant authorities, including the police, to fully investigate the concerns regarding the suspended employees. After a thorough investigation, the police decided to take no further action.

“Many parents wanted us to continue to look after their children during the investigation. However, it has become impossible to keep St Christopher’s open during this time and we have taken the difficult decision to close voluntarily.

“Then we have done everything we can to support the children, their families and staff during this difficult time and we continue to wish everyone well,” they added.