An update on the civil claims against the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham Council
In October 2020, we published a blog on our investigations into allegations of abuse at Stamford House.
We have received over 100 inquiries regarding Stamford House. In March 2022, a group of civil claims for compensation were submitted to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council. The allegations include sexual, physical and racial abuse. There have been a number of additional inquiries since March 2022 and so far 49 requests have been submitted.
Subsequently, and due to fears that the claims would identify criminal offences, Hammersmith and Fulham Council were legally required to inform the Metropolitan Police so that initial criminal investigations could be carried out.
We were then given contact details for the Metropolitan Police investigation team which were given to all applicants so that they could provide a written or videotaped statement if they so wished. Individuals who expressed an interest in making a claim but decided not to sue were also provided with these contact details.
The decision to contact the police is obviously very personal and there is no obligation to do so – so we have left it up to each person contacted to make their own decision.
We understand that everyone who has contacted the police has now been questioned. The investigation has now moved on to contacting potential witnesses, such as family members and friends of the claimants. Social workers, who may or may not have been employees of Hammersmith and Fulham council, are also to be found and police are in the process of securing the release of council records. This is far from straightforward given the age of many of these claims, which date back to the 1970s when all records were in paper format.
This second phase is ongoing and, given its nature, we do not currently have a timetable for its conclusion.
As usual, the civil proceedings against Hammersmith and Fulham are now on hold pending the outcome of the police investigation. We will continue to seek updates from police and keep all claimants informed of the progress of the investigation.
In the meantime, if you have experienced sexual and/or physical and/or racial abuse during your placement at Stamford House and would like to speak about your experiences confidentially, please contact carol spencer Or Sally Smith by e-mail or you can call us on 0800 138 4700
