Halifax Skircoat Lodge abuse survivors speak out

Karen Bentham entered Skircoat Lodge children’s home at the age of 14, a place that would soon become a source of immense fear for her. Shortly after moving in during 1990, Karen began hearing unsettling whispers about what was happening in the girls’ dormitories. Initially sharing a room with other girls, she was later moved into a single room known among residents as “the flat.” It was then that Malcolm Phillips, the home’s manager at the time, began to subject her to sexual abuse. Karen vividly recalls the terror that overtook her every night, describing the overwhelming panic provoked by footsteps on the corridor and keys turning in the door.

Karen is one of the two women who have chosen to waive their lifelong anonymity to share their experiences of abuse at Skircoat Lodge. Malcolm Phillips faced legal proceedings where he was found unfit to stand trial, leading to a trial of facts concerning charges including rape, indecent assault, and acts of indecency with a child. Alongside him, his assistant Linda Brunning was convicted as well; she was found guilty of indecent assault and for facilitating abuse, with evidence showing she took pleasure in humiliating and physically harming the children in her care.

Another survivor speaking out is Kelly Lees, who arrived at the home as a frightened eleven-year-old in 1993. Kelly remembers being one of the youngest residents and a well-behaved “good child” who loved attending school. However, her compliance made her a target for Phillips, who invited her to do homework in his office before sexually abusing her, rewarding her with a lollipop afterward. She recounts, “Malcolm Phillips sexually assaulted me on multiple occasions,” adding that he called her his “special girl,” and revealing the scale of abuse present in the home: “Abuse happened in that place to multiple children daily. It wasn’t only one child each day, it was multiple children daily.” During the trial, Kelly also explained her attempts to avoid school, mistakenly hoping this might stop the abuse, but was quickly found and returned by police, as the home appeared to have constant surveillance over the children.

Both Karen and Kelly describe desperate efforts to escape the abuse within Skircoat Lodge. Karen recounts a terrifying moment when Phillips entered her bedroom uninvited. Pretending to be asleep, she was raped for the first time that night. In a frantic bid for freedom afterward, she jumped from a second-floor bedroom window and fled into town. Despite her escape, she spent hours wandering before the police found her and brought her back to the home. These harrowing testimonies offer a grim insight into the environment at Skircoat Lodge during the 1990s, revealing a culture of fear, control, and systematic abuse endured by vulnerable children in care

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