'Bloodstained items' found at Jersey children's home

A number of bloodstained items have been found in two secret underground chambers at a former children’s home in Jersey being investigated over abuse claims, police said today.

The discovery was made over the past few days by officers searching the final pair of four cellars referred to as “punishment rooms” by victims who claim they were physically and sexually abused.

Lenny Harper, Jersey's deputy police chief, said that at this stage it was not clear if the items - details of which have not been released - had an innocent explanation.

Around 100 people have claimed they were abused at Haut de la Garenne on the Channel island.

Part of a child’s skull was found in February buried under a stairwell at the former children’s home. Tests have been unable to identify the child or accurately date the fragment. Police have said that forensic examinations have suggested that the person must have died before the 1940’s.

Forensic teams investigating the site initially uncovered two secret underground chambers where victims said they were kept in solitary confinement and abused. But a further two secret rooms were subsequently discovered.

In the first cellar to be examined, police found blood spots in a bath. They also found shackles.

The latest find of more bloodstained items were made in cellars three and four, police said today.

Mr Harper said that in light of the age of the skull fragment, it was “unlikely” that police would instigate a formal murder inquiry on the basis of that evidence alone. But he added: “The site of the home must remain the scene of a possible homicide until such time as all the areas of interest which have been flagged up to us have been excavated and cleared.”

So far one person has been charged in connection with allegations of abuse at Haut de la Garenne.

The home’s former warder, Gordon Claude Wateridge, is charged with three offences of indecent assault on girls under 16 between 1969 and 1979.

The 76-year-old appeared before St Helier Magistrates’ Court earlier this week where he was released on conditional bail to May 12. There are thought to be more than 40 suspects in the inquiry as a whole.