Arrests over Jersey abuse claims

A 70-year-old man and a 69-year-old woman have been arrested over claims of abuse of children in care on Jersey.

The pair are being questioned over allegations of assaults said to have taken place in the 1960s and 70s.

A police spokeswoman said the arrests were linked to former children's home Haut de la Garenne, but the alleged offences did not take place there.

Detectives have found charred bone fragments and teeth belonging to children in the cellar of the building.

Officers say the position of the teeth suggests they ended up in the cellar sometime after the 1940s and tests showed most were "very unlikely to have come out naturally before death".

Three people have so far been charged in connection with historic abuse allegations.

Michael Aubin, 45, originally from Jersey, is accused of committing one serious offence against a male child and two counts of indecent assault against separate male children between 1977 and 1980.

Gordon Claude Wateridge, 76, originally from Croydon, south London, is charged with three offences of indecent assault on girls under 16 between 1969 and 1979.

Claude Donnelly, 68, of St Brelade, on Jersey - arrested as part of the wider inquiry - is charged with raping and sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl on Jersey between 1971 and 1974.

Earlier this month, a 50-year-old former police officer was arrested on suspicion of "serious crimes" at Haut de la Garenne and elsewhere on Jersey. He was released pending further inquiries.

More than 100 people have made allegations of abuse at the home between the early 1960s and 1986.