Newsnight book club: Broken by Shy Keenan
- 6 Feb 08, 05:18 PM
Shy Keenan was systematically raped by her stepfather Stanley Claridge throughout her childhood. When she was just ten she was almost killed by a group of abusers he had sold her to. In a Newsnight special investigation in 2000, she secretly recorded Stanley Claridge admitting the abuse – an admission that led to him and his accomplices being arrested and brought to trial. Shy Keenan’s testimony ensured he and two other men were imprisoned.
Founder - with Sara Payne – of Phoenix Survivors, Shy Keenan now campaigns for justice for victims of childhood sexual abuse. Her book Broken is her story - of how she survived being abused and fought to bring those responsible to justice. The following extract is from chapter 30, Why Me?, which details the trial.
in hardcover (£12.99) on 7 February
So, I would be on my own when the moment of truth arrived. As I waited for the court to hear the last of the evidence, I was starting to feel as though we could tell the truth till the cows came home but they were never going to understand and they were never going to stop those bastards. I was just allowing my mind to dwell on the possibility that Stanley, Reg and Dave could walk out of here with nothing more than a slap on the wrist when this tiny-framed woman who looked as though she had been crying her whole life walked up to me and said, ‘You’re Karen, aren’t you?’
I had been lost in thought and replied without checking who she was, ‘Yes, I am.’
She started to cry and I thought for a terrible moment that it was one of the accused’s relatives about to shoot me dead! Instead, she thanked me for saving her eight-year-old child from Reg, who, unknown to her, until the Newsnight documentary, had been being sexually abused by him for many months. Following the airing of the documentary, the police had taken action and Reg had been charged for abusing this child. They were preparing to go to trial along with the other victims involved, who were awaiting the result of this trial before they proceeded to theirs.
‘Thank you so much,’ she sobbed, grasping my hand.
‘You are more than welcome,’ I said, swallowing hard to stop my own tears from flowing. ‘If there is anything I can do to help, I will.’
The lady nodded gratefully and, after many kind words, left. Once she had gone, I was overwhelmed with a strange mixture of sadness and happiness that only our kind can truly understand. I collapsed and sobbed for ages.
I had to hand it to the Operation Phoenix team. They had kept their word – they had listened to the victims, looked past all of the bullshit and had acted to protect. More than this, they had pulled together a formidable case for the CPS to try. Come what may, they had done their job. Just then, someone from the Operation Phoenix team popped his head round the door. ‘The jury are back to deliver their verdicts,’ he said, smiling grimly.
This was it. I composed myself and followed him towards the courtroom.
Stanley and the others stood accused of indecently assaulting, raping, sodomising, buying and selling many innocent children boys and girls for decades. I thought, ‘This was it, complete strangers of the jury, our whole lives are in your hands.’
Members of the Operation Phoenix team flanked me as we walked into the courtroom. As we found our seats, a member of the Phoenix team gave me strict instructions not to ‘overly react’ to the judge or the jury.
Not overly react? I had witnessed these creatures slither their way through life, poisoning everyone in their path, blissfully unchallenged and avoiding all consequence. I had been forced to surrender my entire childhood to their vile, selfish perversions and had had to fight every step of the way to prevent them from consuming my entire adulthood. If the verdict was not guilty, I would be forced to pay like never before – I feared for my own family and for my own sanity, but I was also worried about how all of the other victims would cope.
Besides me my sister and the others involved in our case, there were many others waiting for their justice. This trial had only addressed offences that had occurred in the 1970s. As for me personally, I had lost everything fighting this battle – my home, my music career, my life as I knew it and even my future as I had wanted it to be. I had spent the last two years working towards this day, and I had waited my whole life for this one single moment in time. Overly react indeed.
As I looked into the jury’s eyes, they gazed straight back at me with a look I have never seen before. I didn’t know what that look meant, but I didn’t have long to wait - to find out.
Amid quiet mumbling, the judge asked the foreman to stand up. The packed-solid courtroom hushed as the clerk asked for their verdicts and the first reply came back. Guilty.
My head was spinning and I was finding it hard to breathe. Had I heard that right? As the third, fourth and fifth guilty verdicts were announced, it was getting hard to believe that I could have misheard. Then I heard the ninth, tenth and eleventh guilty until in the end, it was guilty on all counts and said so many times that it became impossible not to believe that this was real.
I didn’t, I couldn’t make a sound, but the tears were pouring down my face. Some of the jury were crying and as I looked into their eyes, I mouthed the words ‘Thank you’ and again I saw that look.
Stanley was found guilty of nineteen charges, including rape, buggery and indecent assault and jailed for fifteen years. Reg and Dave were also given lengthy prison sentences.
Through my tear-blurred eyes, I looked at Stanley and the others. They suddenly appeared very worried indeed, and had all gone a pasty-grey colour.
