'We were accused of raping little girls, having orgies, killing cats

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Jul 11, 2004 | by Vicky Allan

So why did the case get as far as it did? The Crown Office says it was dropped because there was "insufficient available evidence". Many of the accused feel that they had not been properly investigated before arrest. Instead, supposition and "shock tactics" were used in the hope of eliciting an easy confession. John Sellwood, for instance, tells me they informed him that they had him "on video". This turned out to be vague and highly interpretable CCTV footage of him supposedly threatening one of the witnesses.

Bill Thompson, an expert in false allegations and consultant on the Orkney case, believes, however, the real problem may lie in the credibility of those making the allegations - both Mrs X and the children. He questions whether the methods used in obtaining the story from the children were valid.

The victims had been in disclosure therapy with National Children's Home (NCH) and the social service. There are guidelines for this, but, Thomson says, they are often not followed and the truth is determined using a series of validity indicators.

"What has to be asked," says Thompson, "is whether the guidelines for the interview techniques have been broken?" This, he believes, is just another Orkney all over again. "It will be the same methodology. It always is. What it boils down to is a social worker or police officer starts asking leading questions and this then sets off a whole series of speculations."

There is no accusation in our society worse than paedophilia, no word that clings more damningly. "It's just that one word," said Peter Nelson. "I would rather die than be called a paedophile."

Because of this word the Nelsons had their car torched, their greenhouse smashed and bleach poured round their trees. Because of it, the Campbells received abusive phone calls. Nobody, certainly, on Lewis is going to forget that word. These are airtight communities - so close, the phone book published in Ness lists not just the names of the inhabitants, but also their nicknames or their parents' names - and a history is difficult to escape. Even in the past week Peter Nelson has had his garden raided at night, teenagers shining torches into his CCTV cameras. As Dell councillor John McKay commented last week, the dropping of the case has provoked a "mixture of emotions and reactions" on the island. "You know what people are like. You're always guilty in the eyes of some."

In March, I met Penny Campbell in her home in South Dell. With a whispered intensity she told me that she was not going to leave Lewis. Even then she was already involved in a letter-writing campaign on her husband's behalf.

"Our fight," she wrote to me later, "is on all sides at the moment. Against an incompetent, biased and politically motivated police force, against social services and against ignorant people who, through no fault of their own are unaware that such injustices can happen." Since then she has issued press statements, enlisted the help of Bill Thompson, and attempted to fuse the fellow-accused in solidarity. Just as on Orkney, perhaps, they think they can win an apology and compensation. They want to have their names cleared. They want to make the point that, in allegations of child abuse, perhaps names of accused should not be released until proven guilty. Meanwhile, however, a single fact remains. All the evidence suggests the children in Family X were sexually abused. And, in the cloud of smoke and the feverish cries of "satan", it looks as if the perpetrator(s) is/are set to disappear.