Jailed head 'was no child abuser' (From Penarth Times)

Jailed head 'was no child abuser'

A FORMER pupil of jailed headteacher Derek Brushett has claimed the ex-Dinas Powys school boss is an innocent man.

Brushett, 58, is currently serving a 12-year jail sentence for abusing 17 boys at Bryn-y-Don School between 1974 and 1980.

He was jailed following the controversial Operation Goldfinch, which campaigners for his innocence claim was an unfair investigation.

Now, following an appeal by anti-Goldfinch campaigners to former residents of a number of South Wales' children's homes, Rob Brannigan has come forward to defend Brushett. He said: "When I found out he had been found guilty and sentenced I couldn't believe it. I've been telling people he's innocent, but it's like banging your head against a brick wall."

It was in January 1973, aged 12, that Mr Brannigan, went from voluntary care to full-time care at Bryn-y-Don, before Mr Brushett had arrived at the school.

The Barry bus driver told us: "There's no way Derek Brushett is a child abuser. When Derek arrived, everything changed. It was out with the old and in with the new. He tried to make pupils make something of themselves.

"If he saw a kid had potential, he'd try to help them, try to get them interested."

In 1976, Brannigan left Bryn-y-Don, but struggled to stay out of trouble, landing himself in jail for eight months, an experience that he says changed him for the better.

He then went to live in Germany to start his life over. It was years later the police came to see him about his experience at Bryn-y-Don, from which they took a 17-page statement.

"Most of these kids were going home at the weekend and maybe for five or six weeks in the summer. They had plenty opportunity to say if there was abuse. How can they suddenly start coming out 30-years after the fact?"

Solicitor Chris Saltrese who is preparing Brushett's appeal said: "It's important people are willing to speak out with their experiences in care. I believe in the future we will look back at cases like Derek's and think 'Oh my God what the hell was going on?"