A 93-year-old former children’s home manager was convicted of abusing six children at a UK home from 1976 to 1994, with his assistant also found guilty.

A 93-year-old former children’s home manager, Malcolm Phillips, was found by a jury to have sexually abused six children—four girls and two boys—at Skircoat Lodge in Halifax between 1976 and 1994, during a trial-of-facts after being deemed unfit to stand trial. His assistant, Linda Brunning, 66, was convicted of aiding abuse, including restraining a boy and indecently assaulting another. The court heard of a years-long regime of fear, isolation, threats, and punishment for runaways, with victims enduring daily abuse and being returned by police. Calderdale Council apologized, acknowledging past failures in child protection. The case, uncovered after decades of silence, highlights systemic failures and the lasting trauma from institutional abuse. Brunning is set to be sentenced in April.