POLICE Scotland has rejected claims a staff member shouted at a campaigner trying to report complaints about historic child sexual abuse at Pluscarden Abbey in Elgin.
White Flowers Alba campaigner Andi Lavery told The National he had been dealt with aggressively by a Police Scotland call handler when initially advocating, and making the complaint on behalf of two men.
Lavery said Police Scotland went against “safe reporting of sexual abuse” guidelines by refusing to take his accusations of sexual and physical abuse by monks at Pluscarden Abbey because he refused to name the men making the complaints. The campaigner says the only way he was able to make Police Scotland take those complaints seriously was to involve children’s charity Barnardo’s.
During the call, Lavery says Police Scotland call handlers asked him to name the people on whose behalf he was complaining. Lavery refused to do so, which, he alleges, resulted in the call handler shouting at him.
The campaigner also warned that the Scottish Government’s public inquiry into historical child sexual abuse in October would see many more men and women coming forward with allegations of abuse.
Lavery said the police had to be “fit for purpose” to make sure they were in a place to deal in the appropriate manner with those claiming to have been abused.
Detective Chief Superintendent Lesley Boal, lead officer for public protection, said: “We acknowledge that survivors of any form of abuse must be treated professionally and sensitively. Having reviewed the call made to the police in this instance I am assured that the caller was not shouted at and the call handler simply tried to assist in the most professional and courteous manner.
“It is absolutely critical that victims of abuse who contact the police have confidence that we will treat them seriously and sensitively.
“Police Scotland is committed to investigating all reports of non-recent sexual crime. In the past two years we have seen significant increases in reports and our response has been to ensure all investigations are victim-focused from the outset. There are many reasons why someone may not report such abuse until years, even decades, after the event. Regardless of when abuse took place, we are determined to listen to victims and trace those responsible for sexual crime.”
Police Scotland’s call handling is currently the subject of a review by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS).
The inquiry came as a result of the M9 tragedy, where a call to report a car off the road was ignored. Two people were in the car – John Yuill, who died instantly, and his partner Lamara Bell, who was trapped for three days. She later died from her injuries. HMICS says its review will “provide an independent assessment of how police contact, command and control centres are working”.
Yesterday’s National told how Police Scotland is in the early stages of an investigation into allegations of abuse at the Pluscarden Abbey in Moray. The two separate complaints refer to alleged incidents in the 1960s and early 1980s.
Lavery, who himself is a survivor of abuse at Fort Augustus, says he will “fully support the national inquiry”.
A spokesperson for Pluscarden Abbey promised to cooperate fully with Police Scotland’s investigation.
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