Woman jailed 25 years in Skircoat Lodge child abuse case

Linda Brunning, 67, of Sowerby Bridge, was jailed for 25 years at Bradford Crown Court after jurors found she helped carry out sexual abuse at Skircoat Lodge Children’s Home in Halifax, a residential setting for children placed in care by Calderdale Council. The sentence came as Malcolm Phillips, 93, the former manager of the home, was given an absolute discharge after a trial of facts found he had committed sexual offences against children in his care. Survivors were left to wait decades for accountability from a system that failed to protect them.

Brunning was convicted in February of one count of indecent assault on a male child and four counts of aiding and abetting serious sexual abuse. She was also made subject to Sex Offenders Register requirements indefinitely. Phillips, formerly of Tyseley, Birmingham, was deemed unfit to stand trial, but a jury concluded he committed the sexual offences. The judge imposed a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and sex-offender registration for the rest of his life.

The abuse at Skircoat Lodge stretched across the 1970s, 1980s and into the 1990s, involving six victims, four girls and two boys, between 1976 and 1994. Phillips managed the centre from when it opened in 1976 until he was suspended in 1994 during an NSPCC investigation, and Calderdale Council dismissed him in 1996. Brunning worked there as a residential social worker for 16 years from 1978. Prosecutors said the pair used children’s records to identify victims, then used bribes, threats and alcohol to stop disclosures.

The case also carried a long legal history. Phillips was previously convicted in 2001 on 16 counts of indecent assault and two counts of indecency with a child for offences against young girls at the home. Andrew Shalders was later convicted on 22 counts relating to the sexual abuse of young boys and jailed for 15 years. A joint police and social services investigation into abuse at Skircoat Lodge and other Calderdale homes began in October 1997, years after the centre had closed in 1995.

West Yorkshire Police said the outcome could not undo the harm caused, but it marked long-delayed accountability. Detective Chief Inspector Claire Smith said the bravery of survivors who came forward after so many years had been extraordinary. Police urged anyone affected by child abuse or exploitation to seek support through the When you are ready campaign.