THREE sisters are taking legal action against a council, claiming they were abused by their foster carers for nearly two decades.
The siblings say they were “beaten and abused” by John and Alma Cassidy in Glasgow during the 1990s and 2000s. According to a newspaper, Alma Cassidy is said to have physically attacked the girls by day, while her husband subjectedthem to sexual attacks at night.
Council chiefs asked John Cassidy to leave the house after three other women claimed they had been abused by him. However, the paper said the authority “allegedly failed to check on the predator afterwards”, which allowed him to return home and keep abusing the sisters.
Now the trio have launched legal action against Glasgow City Council, which placed them with the foster parents, who died some years ago.
In a statement made through Digby Brown Solicitors, the sisters said: “John and Alma Cassidy weren’t just two of the worst fosterers imaginable – they were two of the worst humans.
“They are both now deceased, so have escaped prosecution.
“But justice shouldn’t die just because your abuser does.”
They added: “We believe Glasgow City Council are at fault as they selected and paid the Cassidys to care for us, and are in disbelief at how easy it was for John’s abuse to continue even after the council was alerted to the risk he posed to us.
“It makes us wonder how many other abusive fosterers are out there, but also how many survivors have been let down not just in Glasgow but potentially across the country.
“To anyone who is aware of abuse that happened or is happening, please have the courage to step forward and help survivors find justice and rebuild their lives.”
The sisters are raising a civil action against the authority because it paid the Cassidys public money to care for them. This is known as “vicarious liability”.
Kim Leslie, a partner at Digby Brown, said: “Initial investigations of Glasgow City Council’s own files show it was made aware John Cassidy was a potential risk to minors, but we believe it did not take appropriate protective measures, which resulted in the continued sexual abuse of the children.”
“We can confirm we have intimated three claims for vicarious liability in relation to historic childhood abuse but it would inappropriate to discuss further details at this time.”
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “We can confirm a claim has been received and it would be inappropriate for us to comment further.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here