More teeth found at children's home

Paula Fentiman

A further 14 milk teeth have been found in cellars at the Haut de la Garenne former children's home at the centre of an abuse investigation - bringing the total discovery to 27, Jersey Police said today.

The children's teeth were all found in cellars, apart from one which was located in a cistern in the courtyard.

Twenty-six of the teeth are now being tested in the UK.

Last week the total number of teeth discovered stood at 13 and police said the latest 14 have been found since last Thursday.

Tests on the teeth discovered earlier revealed that most were "very unlikely to have come out naturally before death", a police statement said.

It added that the teeth had come from at least two children.

Police have also recovered at least 30 charred human bone fragments.

Of the bone fragments unearthed, tests have found that some were cut while others were burnt, indicating that homicide had taken place with the victims' bodies possibly cremated in a fireplace.

Haut de la Garenne became the centre of a historic abuse inquiry in February after the discovery of what was initially believed to be part of a child's skull but was later thought to be wood or part of a coconut.

Following the find, scores of people came forward claiming they were abused at the home. Some talked of underground punishment rooms where they said they were drugged, raped and beaten.

Forensic teams subsequently uncovered a network of four secret underground chambers at the site, where they found the teeth and bone fragments.

In other chambers, officers found shackles, a blood-stained bath and the haunting message "I've been bad for years and years" scrawled on a wooden post.

Police said there are more than 40 suspects.

Three men have been charged in connection with alleged child abuse at Haut de la Garenne.

A fourth man has also been arrested as part of the wider abuse inquiry.