Penny's Report to The media

Though I do not yet have a copy of the report, I am aware of the general gist of it and will be commenting more fully on individual aspects of the report when I receive it. I have always stated that the Social Work Services Inspectorate report will never reveal the truth, I have been proved right in that respect. The social work investigationg themselves was never going to result in disapproval of their actions, let alone condemnation. They were never going to expose themselves to the possibility of being sued. The fact that other agencies involved, Northern Constabulary, NCH etc. were never going to be investigated because the remit did not include them, also means a large part of the information we have was not taken into consideration during the drafting of this report. This is important, as in all the cases I am aware of, including our own, the blame and responsibility never lies with one agency or individual, it is a combination of all of those involved and the mindset they work within.

The girls were examined by Dr Elizabeth Myerscough, Community Child Health, Children's Hospital, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, accompanied by a police surgeon. Apparently her medical report indicated that there was signs of abuse, what exactly does this involve? A psychiatric report, or physical signs of abuse? What are her beliefs with regard to signs of sexual abuse, the same as that of Marietta Higgs? (Who at September 2004, was working for the NHS and running her own private practise at Medway Maritime Hospital, Gillingham, Kent.)

This is important, as her medical report completely contradicts an examination performed by a local doctor before the girls were fostered in 2001, (6 years after the abuse was alleged to have begun) which did not find any signs of sexual abuse. Can I assume then, that this doctor is being labelled as a liar by Dr Myerscough, Northern Constabulary and others? Not only that, but the situation then suggests that if abuse had occured, it was whilst the girls were in the care of social services.

It has also been ignored that the reason why the girls were first involved with social services many years ago in Leicester, is that Angela Stretton falsely claimed that a case of nappy rash was sexual abuse. The doctor at the time stated it was nappy rash, however the social services dealt with the case as if it was genuine, and have been involved ever since. What would years of having been told they had been abused do to a child who was not sexually abused in the first place?

An important reason behind the claims of Satanism, is the predominant religious beliefs in the Scottish Islands. The Free Presbyterian Church, as an evangelical church, has strong beliefs in the devil and this affects their conscious thoughts and actions in everyday activities. Only recently, at my son's school, have suggestions of devil worshipping been raised again, by a member of staff. Similar accusations of Satanism were directed at a former resident of the area, following an evenings study of a lunar eclipse.

It is clear from comments made to me, that Valerie Russell Smith, NCH Bayhead, Stornoway, also held the belief that Satanism was widespread. Living nearby in the village, I had been invited on a few occasions to come in for a chat, our children were of a similar age, so I simply assumed that she was being friendly. Occasionally however, she would direct an unusual comment at me, awaiting a response. On one occasion, this was asking my opinion of her idea to decorate her hall by painting it black. This was strikingly odd, but I dismissed it. Strange comments and questions continued to crop up, the final two being downright insulting. The first of these was when she questioned me on why she had not seen our dog for a few days. Three days later the police and SSPCA arrived, someone had made the claim that we had killed our dog. This also was raised during our interrogations by police. It was blatantly clear who was responsible. The second was when I mentioned to her that I had been diagnosed with postnatal depression following the birth of our youngest child, her comment was "well as long as the children are alright", in a tone I found hostile and offensive.

Only during the case did her involvement with the girls become known to us, thereby the reasons for her actions became clear, she had been trying to elicit damaging information from us that could be used in the investigation against us and support the claims she was helping the girls to create.

What we later learned was that she hasd been involved in providing controversial therapy using explicit books and anatomically correct dolls in sessions spanning a number of years, these sessions were sometimes in the presence of social worker Margaret Rigg, unregistered. The doll method is already known to produce behaviour indicative of sexual abuse in non-abused children, and as a result, has been banned by some authorities. Joe Connolly, Director of Children's Services, NCH Glasgow, denies that any therapy occured, despite witnesses to the fact.

Evidence showing the deliberate attempts to support claims of devil-worshipping in normal, everyday occurences is contained in the small amount of information we have so far received from social services. The fact that I had bought 'witch' dressing-up outfits for our daughters Halloween party at the Youth Club was marked for special attention.

Of course, according to Lee Moore, child abuse lawyer and training provider for courses on Satanic Ritual Abuse, the fact that no evidence exists, is in itself evidence of the crime (they believe Satanists are too clever to leave behind any evidence of murder of sacrifice, including blood). This then means that literally anyone can be accused, as no evidence can be considered proof.

Laurie Matthews, promoter of Satanic Ritual Abuse in Dundee, stated that "there is no denial that several children had been horrendously abused on the island." and goes on to say "certainly children were abused on the island, certainly they were badly abused." Obviously the fact that she has no information about the case or access to any details, save what has been printed, does not deter her from making her 'expert' opinion known publicly and again slurring our names. These and other attempts to undermine the already appalling justice system with comments such as "the problem is that there has to be a lot more proof before a case can go to court or get a conviction." need to be stopped. The fact that there should be a lot more proof is not a "problem", it is right that an allegation alone should not be enough to convict. Sadly, in some cases, it has and does prove enough, particularly in historical abuse cases.

As far as condemnation in our local area goes, the local media continue to try their best to persecute us, in fear of falling foul of the council and local police. None of them published any reference to the article concerning Angela Stretton and her history of false allegations and mental health problems that appeared in Scotland on Sunday, 31st October, 2004 and in the Press and Journal the day after. I had already discussed with David Disney yesterday that the local media would focus on the conclusion of the report and in the local news today, I was proved right.

We know who was responsible for the damage to our house and we believe the same people were responsible for the loss of many of our chickens earlier this year, when we would find one or two a fortnight with their necks broken. This has since stopped. It is hard to accept that they are as welcome in the community as ever, knowing what they have done, and knowing other people are aware of it also. Some of our eldest sons friends still come to the house regularly, often sleeping over, for our daughters the situation is different. There parents are good friends with those responsible for the damage and as a result no longer come to the house.

In order to try and unearth any information which would shed light on the reasons behind the investigation, we have been making Data Subject Access Requests. None of these have been dealt with within the 40 day limit. One request for access to information has resulted in a request for an assessment to be made to the Information Commissioner.

The request made to Northern Constabulary resulted in us discovering that the two charges made against Ian during the case, and dropped in July 2004, were still listed on his file as 'Impending Prosecutions'. In such a high profile case, they could hardly have forgotten to update the information, as such, I believe this was done deliberately. A request for this to be corrected has been made.

All MSP's were sent information by myself describing our experience, as well as copies of my press releases, none have shown the slightest concern. Calum MacDonald, the previous MP for the Western Isles was too afraid to publicly discuss the matter. Cathie Jamieson MSP, Justice Minister in Scotland has ignored my efforts to gain her attention and is now refusing to respond to David Disney's attempts to contact her. All are afraid to address the situation for fear of coming under fire from child protection agencies.

More than this, I believe that we, and other falsely accused people are made scapegoats for the authorities appalling failures in cases where they did not act in time to save a child.

The problem cannot be ignored forever.

The lack of support in Scotland for those falsely accused has resulted in the establishment of False Allegations Action Scotland. The group provides support and advice for those in this position. The website can be viewed at www.faascotland.co.uk or email help@faascotland.co.uk