Cyril Smith abuse claims investigation widens

Cyril Smith

Ten people are being investigated over historical allegations of sexual abuse at a residential school, where it was claimed Cyril Smith abused boys.

Greater Manchester Police said it was investigating the suspects over claims of sexual or physical abuse carried out at the Knowl View School.

The news follows a report last week by investigative news organisation 'Exaro' claiming Greater Manchester Police had dropped the investigation into sexual abuse of boys by Cyril Smith, Detective Chief Superintendent Mary Doyle of GMP issued a denial.

Last year, allegations emerged the ex-MP abused boys on the premises at Knowl View School.

Following the revelations, two former pupils came forward and said they had been abused by other people.

Det Insp Caroline Ward, of Greater Manchester Police, said: "The information is being audited at the moment at the council premises, we're getting details of all the people that we are interested in and we will be coming out and speaking to those people.

She said the investigation is "alive and ongoing" and said the police would listen to any other allegations: "The more people come forward the more evidence we have to put them before a court."

A man who says he was sexually assaulted at the residential school has claimed he was failed by social workers and the institution.

Peter Forbes, 44, from Bolton, was placed at Knowl View when he was 11 years old and stayed for five years.

He said he had reported the abuse but social workers had done nothing.

Former pupil Chris Marshall, who claimed he was abused at the school, said he was glad the allegations are now being taken seriously.

He told the BBC "It's great to know that someone is listening because it just fell on deaf ears over all these years and it just made us feel stupid," he said.

Mr Marshall added: "It is nice to know they are listening now and something is going to be done. Let's get them locked up for it."

Martin Digan, former head of care who blew the whistle on allegations at the school in the 1990s said: "At the time it made me very very ill, 20 years on I can be more philosophical, and I can honestly say without wanting to sound like a bleeding heart, I wouldn't have done it any differently."

But he added: "I feel frustrated that it took Cyril Smith's abuse across the borough to bring this out."

MP for Rochdale Simon Danczuk has claimed there is "little doubt" that Cyril Smith "raped" some of his victims.

In an interview on BBC Radio Manchester, Mr Danczuk said there are few crimes as bad as robbing children of their childhood. He said: "One cannot underestimate the impact on victims, it is psychologically crippling.

"Many victims that don't come forward.

Faced with the observation that the allegations are not good for Rochdale, Mr Danczuk said: "Rochdale is going through a 'Glasnost' period of openness and is coming to terms with past abuse and that's a good thing for the town."

He added: "I urge the perpetrators to come forward and confess and co-operate with the police investigation so that Rochdale and the people abused can move forward."

Knowl View School first opened in 1969 for vulnerable boys as a joint venture between councils in Rochdale Oldham and Bolton. It closed in 1995.

It is alleged that as well as raping boys at Knowl View, that he also abused boys at Cambridge House Children's Home, a privately-run care home in Rochdale that closed in 1965.

Last year, the Crown Prosecution Service admitted Cyril Smith should have been prosecuted for abusing young boys in the 1960s.

Cyril Smith was originally a Labour councillor in Rochdale and later a Liberal then Liberal Democrat MP for the town. He died in 2010 aged 82.