A brave Glasgow woman has opened up about the horrific abuse she suffered as a child at a notorious residential school. Lynne Sheerin was one of hundreds of girls who endured mental, physical, and sexual abuse at Fornethy House in Kilry, Angus.
The school opened in August 1960 after being gifted to Glasgow City Council (known then as Glasgow Corporation) by the Coats family and used to provide short-term respite care for girls from disadvantaged backgrounds. However, instead of receiving support and nurture, many students were subjected to unimaginable abuse by teachers and staff.
It took 15 years before the truth came to light and Fornethy House was finally closed down, with many victims too traumatised to tell anyone, even their parents, what had happened to them.
Former pupil Lynne hid her own trauma from her family and even her husband until she saw a news story about the school on TV. The 55-year-old told Glasgow Live : "I was taking a cup through to the kitchen when I heard the words Fornethy House and abuse on a news report.
"I stopped in my tracks. My whole world collapsed."
She explained: "I was sent to Fornethy House when I was seven or eight years old in around 1975. My mum didn't keep well and I can only assume that is why we got to go. We were told it was going to be like a holiday.
"I was subjected to physical and mental abuse but I'm not 100% sure about sexual abuse - I haven't got any memory of that. The teachers used to throw parties and there would be men around.
"Girls would be taken from their beds in the middle of the night while the parties were on. Some of the survivors believe they were drugged because they passed out after drinking milk.
"I was a bed-wetter so they would come round and put a hand up my skirt throughout the day to check if my underwear was wet. I was shoved, pushed, and force-fed. If you were force-fed and threw up, they would force-feed you the vomit.
"They would take the sheets from my bed and shove them in my face and scrub between my legs with a brush."
While at Fornethy house, children were cut off from their families and were told what to write in their letters home by teachers to hide their abuse. Lynn said the older girls would often try to protect the younger girls and "keep them to the side" when they knew what awful fate awaited them.
The mum from Glasgow decided to waive her right to anonymity to ensure that what she and so many other girls suffered doesn't go unreported. She said: "I previously wanted to remain anonymous but now I know what happened to me.
"I couldn't face my family but I eventually told one of my brothers. My other brother couldn't believe that I had been carrying it around with me my whole life.
"No one in my family knew. My mum had always questioned why I came back as a bed wetter but that was it.
"The experience stayed with me my whole life. I couldn't speak about it for a very long time. There was a period of time when I was really down and couldn't tell anyone why but I'm finally stronger now. I'll come back however many times it takes.
"We need our story out there."
So far, over 200 women have come forward with claims they were physically and sexually assaulted at Fornethy House. Many are now part of the Fornethy House Survivors group, co-founded by Marion Reid, who was taken to Fornethy in 1965 when she was just eight years old.
Marion, who now lives in Carluke, said: "It has affected my whole life. I went through mental health services and trauma counselling.
"I knew my older sister was there but I thought it was just us and maybe I was a bit too sensitive. My niece suggested that I start a group.
"My trauma was bad for me and then I started hearing all these stories that were so shocking. I had a suicide attempt after that."
Now the group are demanding answers as to why records that could have been vital in getting justice for victims have been lost. Glasgow City Council has said that as the documents were for education, they would have only been retained for five years.
In response, the group has held protests out the Chambers building as well as the Scottish Government.
Speaking of the abuse she suffered, Marion said: "One morning there were boiled eggs for breakfast. I had said that I didn't like boiled eggs and I got belted in the head. I was force-fed until I vomited and then I was made to eat the vomit.
"I was called a crybaby. After that, the same woman would find me. She would trip me up in the corridor when I passed her.
"I must've been hungry at one point, maybe because I was being punished, because I remember eating dried toothpaste out of a round tin.
"I gave a description of the woman who terrorised me to the police but they never got back to me until two years later when they just told me she was dead. I had known she would be as she was an older woman at the time.
"A lot of people in the group remember her. Until her name is out there, I won't get justice or peace."
Earlier this year, the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee considered a petition from the Fornethy House Survivors Group which urged ministers to widen access to the redress scheme for victims of child abuse.
However, survivors have said they are unable to apply to the scheme – which pays out up to £100,000 to those abused in long-term residential care - because Fornethy was considered "short-term respite or holiday care" and because their parents gave their consent for them to go.
Addressing concerns, Deputy First Minister John Swinney later said that survivors could be eligible for compensation under the scheme. However, from Marion and many others, justice will only come when the Scottish Government acknowledges their experiences.
"The money is not what this is about. I just want people to know what happened to me and the other girls", Marion added.
"The council hasn't met with any of the girls but says they are liaising with Police Scotland.
"We're being treated differently because our parents signed for us to go away, we weren't taken from them so it can't be included in the Redress Scheme. Our parents didn't sign up for us to be physically, sexually, and mentally tortured."
The group is now calling for an independent inquiry into the abuse faced by children at Fornethy House and for the Scottish Government to publicly acknowledge the abuse happened.
Marion explained: "We want somebody that is totally independent that will possibly take the time to speak to us to start with. We want somebody to start listening to us."
Laura Connor, head of the historic abuse unit at Thompsons Solicitors, represents many of the women who were abused at Fornethy House.
She said: “The abuse endured by young girls at Fornethy is the stuff of nightmares and the effect of that abuse still lives with many of the survivors to this day. Glasgow City Council says it has misplaced its records showing how and when children were sent there but we will continue to pursue this matter so our clients can receive the answers they deserve “
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The abuse of children in all circumstances and settings is wrong and should never have occurred.
“Deputy First Minister John Swinney welcomed the opportunity to meet with members of the Fornethy House Survivors Group. He will continue to engage with the group and listen to members’ concerns regarding scheme eligibility, justice and support”.
Detective Inspector Mark Lamont from Tayside Division, said: “In complex and challenging investigations such as this we work very closely with the Procurator Fiscal Service and we keep them regularly updated as enquiries progress. This investigation remains ongoing.
"All reports of child abuse will be fully investigated and we are committed to bring perpetrators to justice. I would encourage anybody who has been the victim of abuse, either recently or in the past, to please come forward and report the matter to us.”
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council added: "Council officers have been helping police with their enquiries and our claims department continue to deal with claims.
“We are doing everything we can and understand how upsetting this situation must be.”
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