An update regarding civil claims against the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.

In October 2020 we posted a blog about our investigations into claims of abuse at Stamford House.

We’ve received over 100 enquiries about Stamford House. In March 2022 a group of civil claims for compensation were submitted to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council. Allegations include sexual, physical and racial abuse. There have been a number of further enquiries since March 2022 and, so far, 49 claims have been submitted.

Subsequently, and due to the concern that the claims identified criminal offences, Hammersmith and Fulham Council were legally bound to inform the Metropolitan Police so that initial criminal enquiries could be made.

We were then provided with contact details of the Metropolitan Police investigation team which were given to all claimants so  they could provide a written or video recorded statement if they wanted. Those individuals who expressed an interest in making a claim but who had decided not to proceed were also sent these contact details.

The decision to contact the police is clearly very personal and there is no obligation to do so – we therefore left it to each individual contacted to make their own decision.

We understand that all those who have contacted the police have now been interviewed. The investigation has now moved on to contacting potential witnesses, such as family members and friends of the claimants. Social workers, who may or may not have been Hammersmith and Fulham Council employees, also need to be traced and the police are in the process of obtaining disclosure of records from the council. This is far from straightforward given the age of many of these claims, which date back to the 1970s when all records were in paper format.

This second phase is ongoing and, given its nature, we don’t currently have a timescale for its conclusion.

As is usual practice, the civil claims against Hammersmith and Fulham are now on hold pending the outcome of the police investigation. We’ll continue to request updates from the police and will keep all claimants advised as to progress of the investigation. 

In the interim, if you suffered sexual and/or physical and/or racial abuse whilst placed at Stamford House and want to talk about your experiences in confidence, please call us on 0800 138 4700 or email help@switalskis.com