Overview
- At Bradford Crown Court, Linda Brunning, 66, is on trial and a trial of facts is under way for Malcolm Phillips, 92, who has been deemed unfit to stand trial.
- An interim manager testified that after Phillips was suspended in 1994, a flat connected to the home contained an internal system to listen into activity, and some staff were scared while others remained loyal.
- A former staff member told jurors Phillips ran the home in a coercive, authoritarian manner and said Brunning demeaned children and ignored colleagues during shifts.
- Prosecutors say Phillips lived in a flat by the girls’ bedrooms, used threats over pocket money and visits, and isolated selected children, with allegations involving six complainants over nearly two decades.
- Jurors were reminded that Phillips was convicted in 2001 of abusing eight female residents at the home, and the court heard that he denies the current allegations.