Nuns jailed for ‘cruel treatment’ of orphans after hitting them with rosary beads and making one eat own vomit
18 January 2024, 17:50 | Updated: 18 January 2024, 17:55
Two nuns and a care worker have been jailed for subjecting children to ‘cruel and unnatural treatment’ while working at an orphanage.
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Sister Sarah McDermott, 79, Sister Eileen Igoe and carer Margaret Hughes, 76, all worked for Smyllum Park, an orphanage and children's home run by a catholic charity in Lanark.
The court heard children were demeaned and subjected to verbal and physical abuse between the years 1969 and 1981.
All three women have been jailed for three years each after being found guilty of a number of ‘cruel and unnatural’ treatments while they were in positions of trust.
The three women all denied any wrongdoing as they went to trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court.
Children living in the home were usually placed there by social workers because of problems at home, or because they had nobody to look after them.
The jury heard each of the accused participated in excessive discipline and violence against young children.
Children were demeaned and subjected to verbal and physical abuse.
One woman told the court of how she was beaten by McDermott after she had reported witnessing her brother being sexually assaulted in a toilet in the orphanage.
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She said volunteer worker Brian Dailey, who was later jailed for 15 years for abusing children, molested the three-year-old in the toilet cubicle.
After telling McDermott what she had witnessed, McDermott slapped the girl and accused her of bringing her "filthy home habits into a good Catholic place".
McDermott also hit another girl with rosary beads and repeatedly struck her on the head and body.
Igoe was convicted of abuse, which included making a child eat their own vomit and force-feeding others.
While Hughes seized one boy by the hair and struck him with her arm. She also forced a girl into a freezing bath before holding her head underwater.
Survivors of the abuse, now in their 50s and 60s, gave evidence at court, with many saying the impact of their treatment had left them with lifelong trauma.
Sheriff Scott Pattinson said the victims had been left with ongoing trust issues and problems forming relationships due to the psychological impact of their treatment.
He told McDermott, Hughes and Igoe: “You failed in your duty of care to the children in Smyllum and fell far short of your moral calling and commitment.”
He also said there was no alternative to prison for the three women as they were each sentenced to three years behind bars. Their sentences were shorter than usual due to the women’s ages and health issues.
The judge said he hoped the sentence would act as a deterrence to others.
“I am satisfied that the focus of my sentences should be punishment and deterrence, to punish you for the crimes committed and to deter all who have care of young children from similar conduct now and in the future,” he said.
