Jason Swift is one of the tragic cases in the past that are connected to the Conewood site

At least four people who worked at the former Islington Council building in Conewood Street (later Park Place) have previously been accused of child abuse, according to confidential council documents.

When another was convicted of kidnapping a child he had met at the facility, a paedophile magazine came to his aid.

Jason Swift, a student killed by a child sex trafficking ring known as the Dirty Dozen, has been linked to the building, as has another boy who was brutally murdered.

A lawsuit is now pending against the house, alleging that a teenage girl was repeatedly sexually abused by strange men who entered her bedroom under the cover of darkness.

While the plaintiff's lawyers urged other victims to come forward, the Islington Gazette investigated the dark past of the Conewood house.

“Sally”, now in her 40s, is suing Islington Council, claiming she was repeatedly sexually abused in her bed at Park Place, Conewood Street. She discusses the case with her lawyer Andrew Lord (Image: Charles Thomson)

Kidnap

In 1983, the now deceased social worker John Picton kidnapped a 13-year-old boy he had met at the Conewood facility.

By the time Picton took him in, the boy had already moved to an adjacent children's home on Elwood Street.

The houses were connected by back gardens so that staff and children could move between them.

Picton and the boy he kidnapped were tracked down in Toulouse, France, almost two months later.

He was brought back to Britain and prosecuted, after which a paedophile magazine called Minor problems to lament his fate.

In an article titled “Affection is not a crime,” the paedophile rights newsletter claimed to have met Picton and been “convinced of his genuine concern for his chosen 'son.'”

He was sentenced to six months in prison, which the paedophile brochure described as an “inhuman injustice”.

The children's home on Conewood Street was adjacent to another on Elwood Street, both of which were repeatedly the subject of allegations of abuse. (Image: Charles Thomson)

Allegations of abuse

A 1999 council document revealed numerous previous allegations of abuse at the Conewood home.

The document from the Council's Child Protection and Reviews Service was released following a request under the Freedom of Information Act by Dr Liz Davies of the Islington Survivors Network (ISN).

It said that two specific employees were “allegedly involved in abuse and pornography.”

A third person was accused of watching a pornographic film with a child.

Two girls independently reported being abused by unknown assailants on Conewood Street.

None of these allegations were dated in the file.

But a fourth identified employee was accused of “abusing boys through prostitution and calling boys his friends” between 1986 and 1995, the report said.

After an “unsuccessful disciplinary hearing” he moved to another local council.

Until 1999, police had never investigated any of these allegations.

A 1999 Islington Council document released under the Freedom of Information Act contained numerous historical allegations of abuse relating to the Conewood Street house. (Image: ISN)

Jason Swift

Until 1999 was The document goes on to say that they were aware of reports that Jason Swift had been in contact with the Conewood facility shortly before his death.

Numerous staff and children reported knowing him during his time there, Dr Davies said.

The teenager was not a resident of Hackney, she added, but had attended an educational institution there.

Fourteen-year-old Jason was found in a shallow grave in Essex in November 1985.

He was killed in a brutal gang rape by a paedophile gang called the “Dirty Dozen.”

The tabloid press called him a “rent boy,” even though he was a child unable to give consent.

Paedophile Sidney Cooke was convicted of manslaughter in connection with Jason's death in 1989, but how he first came to the attention of Cooke's gang has never been fully clarified.

A 1999 document released to the Islington Survivors Network (ISN) under the Freedom of Information Act states that Jason Swift – who was later killed by a paedophile gang – was linked to Conewood Street. (Image: ISN)

Tony McGrane

Another boy from Conewood, falsely labeled a “hustler” by the tabloid press, also died a violent death.

13-year-old Tony McGrane was found stabbed to death in a garage in Clerkenwell in October 1986.

His family denied sensationalist newspaper reports that he – an incapable child – had “sold sex in Soho”.

Tony's death was one of 16 child murders investigated as part of Operation Stranger – the same operation that investigated the death of Jason Swift – because they may be linked.

But a 19-year-old family friend from Finsbury named Gary Whelan was eventually convicted of manslaughter in connection with Tony's death in 1989.

A 1999 document released years later under the Freedom of Information Act contained a list of allegations of abuse relating to the Conewood Street house that were known to Islington Council but had never been investigated by the police until then. (Image: Charles Thomson)

New accusation

In July, the Islington Gazette published a harrowing interview with a woman who claims she was repeatedly sexually abused at Conewood in the 1990s.

Her lawyer, Andrew Lord of the law firm Leigh Day, appealed to anyone who had knowledge of the house at this time to come forward.

The Council said it could not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

However, the organisation has previously admitted that there was widespread abuse in its children's homes for decades and has apologised for it, calling it “the worst chapter in the history of this council”.