CARE HOME ASSISTANT JAILED 25 YEARS FOR CHILD ABUSE IN HALIFAX

Linda Brunning has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after being found guilty of indecently assaulting a boy and assisting Malcolm Phillips in the sexual abuse of another boy at Skircoat Lodge children's home in Halifax during the 1980s and 1990s. Phillips, who managed the home from its opening in 1976, was deemed unfit to face a criminal trial and received an absolute discharge at Bradford Crown Court. A jury found in a trial of facts — a process that determines whether alleged acts were committed but cannot result in a conviction — that Phillips had carried out sexual and physical offences against four girls and two boys between 1976 and 1994. Phillips also received a sexual harm prevention order and attended the hearing via video link from his home in Birmingham.

Judge Kirstie Watson told Phillips that he and Brunning had committed "vile abuse" against children, describing him as a "master manipulator" who "cultivated a culture of fear" among vulnerable young people in his care. The trial, which concluded in January, heard that Phillips had used his position over two decades to isolate children for his own purposes. Brunning, of Sowerby Bridge, Calderdale, was described during proceedings as a domineering figure who took pleasure in hurting and humiliating children. She denied all charges, though her defence counsel stated she now respects the jury's verdicts.

The case centred on offences committed at a single residential children's home across nearly two decades. Judge Watson acknowledged she was bound by the statutory framework in delivering the absolute discharge to Phillips. Brunning's 25-year sentence represents the principal custodial outcome of the proceedings. The absolute discharge means Phillips faces no punishment despite the jury's findings against him.