Would The Real Louis Minster Please Stand Up ?

Exaro today reports that former Director of Richmond Social Services denied that he is Louis Minster, former Director of Richmond Social Services.

Louis Minster was Director of the Social Services Department of the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames from 1975 to 1984.

It was during this period that boys in the care of Richmond were allegedly taken from children’s homes at Grafton Park, Teddington Park and Rodney Road, to be sexually abused at Elm Guest House in Rocks Lane.

The abuse appears to have begun by 1977 when boys were taken to a “Kings and Queen’s Party” to celebrate the Queen’s Silver Jubilee.  It continued until at least 1982 when the guest house was raided by police.

Richmond council staff were given advance warning of the raid, as police fully expected juveniles to be present who would require medical examination.

Terry Earland, then Head of Children’s Services, is in ‘no doubt’ that boys were abused at the guest house and it was he who informed Louis Minster, his boss, of the need for a social worker to be present during the raid.  “There is no way I would have dealt with this without telling Louis.”

Earland believes that anyone who visited Elm Guest House should be ‘in the frame – almost certainly.’  In documents widely available online, written by Chris Fay and John Oakes, Louis Minster is named as a visitor to Elm Guest House and as an alleged “paedophile”.

“Terry Dwyer & John Rowe persuaded Carol Kazir to change her guest house to a gay one.  Introduced her to a South African from Holland called Peter Glencross who runs a paedophile magazine called ‘Spartacus’.  Dwyer & Haddon were using the place to supply boys for sex.  Among those using it was Louis Minster, Director of Social Services, Richmond, Colin Peters QC, Donald Naismith,  Director of Education Wandsworth & number of police.  Boys supplied by Neil Keir SW Grafton Lodge Childrens Home.”

At a meeting with Carole Kazir, Chris Fay was shown some photographs:

Carol produced a large cardboard box at our meeting at her flat on 23^rdMarch.  In it were letters, documents (re Guest House), 6 video cassettes and about 10 x A4 envelopes with photos.  She would only show me 8 of the photos, Chris Fay told us.

Minster is now 81 and living in retirement in Malta.  Unfortunately, he suffers long-term memory problems and can remember nothing of these events.  When he learned about them for the first time on the internet recently, he professed to be quite shocked:

“The whole issue of the guest house was alien until I saw it on the internet last night.”

His memory loss is clearly quite severe.  As well as claiming to know nothing about the allegations of child sex abuse, he must have been ignorant of the widely reported headlines in the press at the time, as well as the subsequent conviction of Carole and Harry Kazir for running a disorderly house (brothel).

Despite his memory loss, Minster is adamant there was ‘never any misdeanour – of any nature, or any sort’ and is very surprised that such goings on could occur in “good old, quiet Richmond”.

The London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames secretly paid compensation to a person who was in care at Grafton Lodge, and who was abused at Elm Guest House.  But this was after Louis Minster’s time.

Terry Earland claims he received complaints of sexual abuse from children and referred them to both police and council staff.  He believed the complaints were genuine but no investigation occurred.

Council records reveal that abuse was reported 30 years ago by a boy in care, and his story was corroborated by a friend, but council staff and police decided ‘no further action’ was required. Louis Minster twice called up the file on this boy, even after he had left care, an action Terry Earland considers unusual.

Minster was sacked after a full meeting of the council in the Town Hall on 30 October 1984.  The meeting was closed ‘due to the confidential nature of the business to be transacted.’  Minster claims the reasons for his dismissal were entirely political.  11 months previously, a Liberal/SDP alliance had taken control of the  Council, after a long period of Conservative rule.

He is believed to have received a £10,000 pay-off and a generous pension and took up a new position in Glasgow training social workers.

You can get your free 7 day trial at Exaro and read their story yourself.