53
Afterword 2
On Monday 20 May 2013, the BBC Panorama programme ‘Hillsborough – How
They Buried the Truth’ went out at 9pm. Brian Pead sat and watched it with a
friend – he cried. The tears were not just for the death of 96 innocent people,
but for the death of justice. His tears were also for his grand-children. For
his daughter. For the life he once knew. Brian’s tears of sadness were also
tears of anger – at the institutionalised corruption that had taken place in
the cover-up that was Hillsborough.
As a Liverpool fan and author of five books on the entire history of
the club from 1892, he was present on that fateful day. He had lived with the
corruption for almost a quarter of a century.
On Wednesday 22 May 2013, Brian came across a piece of writing by the
Radio 5Live presenter, Colin Murray, in the Metro newspaper on his train journey from Southend Central
to the Royal Courts of Justice, to seek remedy against
Lambeth Council for his unlawful dismissal in July 2007.
The words touched Brian immensely. We reproduce them here, and
acknowledge the copyright of both Colin Murray and the Metro newspaper:
“… I didn’t watch it, not initially. I’d had
a good day and I knew that would end the minute this programme began, so
instead I enjoyed dinner with my family, took in a film, and only pressed play
once those I love were safely in bed.
Now I sit here, at 3am, after viewing BBC
Panorama’s ‘Hillsborough - How They Buried The Truth’, and I can’t think about
anything else. Again. Quite honestly, I’m thinking about what it would be like
if my wife went out tomorrow and never came back. And if for almost a quarter
of a century to follow I’d have her memory spat upon and besmirched by those in
positions of power who are meant to protect us and uphold our collective
principles. And I just want to punch the wall in anger.
I’m thinking about how any human being can
look at a pitch strewn with the dead, the dying and the wounded, a nearby
temporary morgue filling up with bodies, and already be hatching a plan to pin
the blame on those very same corpses in order to save their own skin.
I’m thinking that anyone who can do this
must have no soul to speak of, and no conscience to answer. I’m thinking about
those left behind, and how they’ve managed to not only keep fighting for
justice, but have done so without lowering themselves to the same gutter level
as those who have denied them the right to bury their loved ones with dignity
and in peace.
And I am not sure I would be able to summon
the grace they possess, or be able to show the self-restraint they’ve
displayed.
I’m thinking about how my words cannot even
begin to describe the suffering felt by those who lost friends and family that
day, and I wonder where they’ve found the courage to continue in the face of
such despicable lies. I’m not sure I could have.
I’m thinking, with two inquiries charged
with finally unearthing the real story of the worst day in the history of
British football, that I don’t want to ever have to watch a programme like this
week’s Panorama again.
That I want to stand in front of the
Hillsborough memorial at Anfield in the near future and touch it in the
knowledge that, at last, the truth has been written forever in history, and not
to walk away from it knowing those who caused this avoidable tragedy continue
to get away with it scot free.
I’m hoping that the bastards responsible are
having as much trouble sleeping tonight as I am…”
© Colin Murray ©
The Metro
Brian Pead innocently went to work one day and sacked a female teacher
who was grooming girls. As innocent as going to a football match.
A part of him died the day he was unlawfully sacked by Lambeth Council.
A part of him died the day he no longer saw his daughter.
A part of him died the day he no longer saw his grand-children.
A part of him died the day his father died and the police considered
charging Brian with his father’s death – despite the 91 year old dying of
natural causes.
A part of him died the day he buried his father and no other family
members were present because of the lies perpetrated by the police at the
highest levels and because the police had intercepted the invitations to his
daughter and nephews to attend their grand-father’s funeral.
A part of him died when his reputation was besmirched by those in
positions of power who are meant to protect us and uphold our collective principles.
A part of him died as he fought to get the truth to his beloved
grand-children.
A part of him died when he learnt that Scotland Yard had been hatching
a plan to prevent him from exposing child abuse in Lambeth.
A part of him died with the pain and the suffering of the loss of his
loved ones.
A part of him died with the knowledge that those responsible for his
demise are attempting to re-write history and are getting away with it scot
free.
Parts of him died until there was just one part left …
… the part that fought tenaciously to be heard amidst the injustice
and the lies and the corruption and the scandal and the defamation and the
stench of evil …
… the part that said, “I know that I am innocent. And I want to stand
and look in my grand-children’s eyes and know that the truth has at last been
told to them.”
54
Afterword 3
On Wednesday 12 June 2013, Brian travelled to Ambrose Lane, Harpenden
in Hertfordshire with Michael Bird, the co-author of from Hillsborough to Lambeth. It was a
warm and bright day, though occasional clouds passed silently in front of the yellow-orange
sun.
Now owned by the Christian charity Youth
with a Mission, the National Children’s Home at Highfield Oval in Harpenden
today looks very much as it did in the 1950s. Large Edwardian houses had been
built around a green. Forming part of the circle of buildings around the green
were a small factory, an administrative block, a chapel - built with funds from
Joseph Rank - and a hospital. Born in 1854, Joseph Rank was the founder Rank
Hovis McDougall, one of the United Kingdom’s largest food production and
flour-milling businesses.
Like Livingstone and Stanley, Brian and his friend went exploring. Behind
one of the houses was a small orchard, where Brian would often wander as a
child and where he believes he found his love of nature. To the left of the
orchard was a large grassy field where he and Michael Bird walked before entering the wood where Brian
would also wander half a century ago. The woods resonated with bird-song and
Brian’s heart was filled with joy at such a “beautiful cacophony” - as he
describes it.
Emerging from the bluebell-carpeted woods where the sun illuminated
the gossamer-thin yellow-green leaves, they went from house to house in the
warm sunshine and were intrigued by the foundation stones they saw on each
building. It appeared that the majority had been laid on Wednesday 30 October
1912 at a grand ceremony in which local dignitaries and officials of the
National Children’s Homes had been present.
Brian and his two brothers were admitted into the Harpenden branch of
the National Children’s Home on 29 January 1956. Brian was aged 2½.
For what was termed ‘medical research’ reasons, the children in the
home were photographed. From the front. From the side. From the rear.
Naked.
In his book, Philip: A Strange
Child, Dalkeith Publishing, 2007, Philip Howard describes his experiences
of the ‘medical research’:
“…Our regular
visits for the Growth Study Tests every few months were welcomed by most of us.
An entire morning off school was something of a treat. The tests took about two
hours. There were not that many of us in each group, but as we were all seen
individually, although there were several staff involved, much of the time was
waiting to be seen.
The tests took
place in one part of the main hall; this part of the hall was kept locked,
other than on the days of the medical tests, because of the specialised medical
equipment used only for our measurement tests. […]
As well as our
measurements, photographs of our body stature and growth were taken from our
front, back and side. These were done naked […]
If a few of us were
embarrassed at times, it was when the staff touched parts of our body during
the tests. When it came to standing up for the photographs, on occasions a few
of us experienced erections.
With the others
occupied with their own part of the test, it was generally only the staff that
witnessed our embarrassment…”
As authors and researchers, we found this account highly disturbing.
Without any melodrama whatsoever, we were forced to ask many questions about
this ‘medical research’. Why were the children photographed naked? What
happened to these photographs of the naked children? Where are they currently
stored? Who owns them? Why was each child seen ‘individually’? Why did staff
touch parts of the children’s bodies when they were naked?
Why were parents not informed? Why were parents not present? Did
parents give consent to have their children photographed naked? Were parents
given a copy of the photographs?
Who authorised the taking of naked pictures of pre-pubescent and
pubescent children? Had authority been given at the level of the Committee of
the National Children’s Home, the Education Authority, or Ministerial level?
How many pairs of eyes saw these photographs? Was this ‘medical research’
merely a cover for child pornography some 40 or 50 years before the internet
existed?
Back in July 1956, Brian was 3ft 2 inches tall and he weighed 2 stone
and 6 lbs. The file that he obtained in a Freedom of Information Act 2000
request from Action for Children contained a comprehensive list of his height
and weight measurements throughout his stay in the Harpenden home.
At the age of 5, Brian’s sexual abuse at Highfield Oval started. His
childhood had been stolen from him and his awareness had been raised to a state
of high alert – he saw things most boys his age did not see, he felt things
they did not feel, he knew things they did not know. This boy ‘of superior
intelligence’ who ‘could be reasoned with’, who was ‘ clean and tidy for his
age’, who was a ‘leader’ and who was ‘popular with his peers’ (all comments
made about him in the Home) was 3ft 7½ inches tall and he
weighed 3 stone in July 1958, a month after his fifth birthday.
The foundation stones had been laid in 1912 approximately 3 feet from
ground level.
It is evident that Brian’s eye level was in line with the foundation
stones.
On each of the foundation stones were the names of people who were
associated in one way or another with the National Children’s Homes.
On each of the foundation stones were the names of the places that the
people who were associated with the National Children’s Homes came from.
On almost every one of the foundation stones was the name of …
… Lambeth.
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