More claims of care home abuse

Forensic teams are searching seven sites at the Jersey youth hostel Haut de la Garenne which is at the centre of a child abuse scandal after scores of allegations were made.

When the building was used as a care home former residents have claimed they were raped, drugged and flogged.

Peter Hannaford, 59, a resident at Haut de la Garenne until the age of 12, claimed older children were encouraged by staff to attack and sexually assault him nearly every night.

Now a woman, who has asked to remain anonymous, is reported to claim that in the 1970s staff would have drunken parties and select weak children to abuse.

She told the Daily Mail she was locked in a tiny three metre by four metre "punishment room" and was subjected to "the most cruel, sadistic and evil acts".

"It was the most serious forms of sexual abuse," she said. "The staff knew how to pick out the weak ones - I think they went through their records - and rape was rife in all ages, both boys and girls."

Police have spoken to 150 victims and witnesses and said the claims stretch back four decades.

Officers excavating the site have not ruled out the possibility of finding more bodies.

Search teams are concentrating on a hidden bricked up cellar but officers have said getting access to the room is proving complicated. The police said work there is being suspended until a structural survey is carried out and teams will focus on the courtyard.