This is a note to remind contributors The Needle blog is a public forum and as such those messaging should refrain from posting any personal information in relation to other people and should not use any derogatory language which may cause offence.
Surrey Police takes all allegations of abuse, whether recent or non-recent very seriously. If you need to report such a matter please call 101 – information will be treated in confidence and dealt with by specially trained staff in a dedicated team as part of a full and appropriate investigation.
If you would rather not speak directly to the police here are some contacts that we would encourage you to use:
NAPAC (The National Association for People Abused in Childhood)– 0808 8010331
RASAC (Rape and Sexual Abuse Counselling Service ) – 01483 546400
NSPCC – 0808 800 5000
Victim Support – 0808 168 9111
Crimestoppers – 0800 555 111
The Oaks Centre Children’s Home, Woking, aka Kinton Approved School and Kinton Community Home with Education (Kinton CHE) (thanks to Graham for this correction).
The National Association for Young People in Care (naypic) received allegations of abuse at this institution.
Victims of paedophile to sue council
TWO victims of a man jailed two weeks ago for abusing boys in his charge at a Surrey school are to pursue their grievances through the civil courts.
Keith Hammerton, 69, of Battersea was jailed for six years on November 1 for sexual offences he committed against boys while employed as a housemaster at Kinton approved school in Mayford in the 1970s.
Now two of his victims, who wish to remain anonymous for the time being, are to bring civil actions against Surrey County Council, which ran the school.
Lawyer for the pair will be Tracey Emmott of Luton-based firm Pictons, a specialist in child abuse law and a panel member of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers.
She has been instructed by two former pupils of Kinton School to bring an action on behalf of the men for the trauma and distress they suffered at the hands of Hammerton for about three years.
“My clients were preyed upon by someone whose job it was to care for vulnerable,” Ms Emmott said. “He took advantage of his position of authority over them, subjecting them to regular and sustained sexual abuse.
A CARE worker who lured boys into sex with the promise of alcohol at a Woking care home was jailed for six years on Tuesday.
Guildford Crown Court heard how Keith Hammerton, 69, from Battersea, sexually abused boys in his care at the Kinton Boys’ Home in Mayford in the 1970s.
The court heard how Hammerton would invite as many as three boys at a time to his room to perform sex acts on him in return for beer from a barrel he kept there. He would perform sex acts on them too.
For the prosecution, Joanna Cutts said Hammerton, then employed by Surrey County Council as a house warden at the home, would, smelling strongly of alcohol, wake boys and expose himself before inviting them to his room to smoke, drink and abuse them.
Ms Cutts said Hammerton, a loner who had few friends, made one victim, who he abused regularly while he was aged 14 and 15, perform oral sex on him in the boy’s mother’s kitchen during a weekend visit.
ER warden at a children’s care home in Woking was warned on Tuesday that he faced jail after admitting a string of sex attacks on teenage boys in the 1970s.
Keith Hammerton, 69, pleaded guilty to 10 counts of indecent assault involving two victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at the home and one count of battery against a third boy.
The pensioner was due to stand trial last week but skipped his bail and disappeared from his home at Connors Court in Alfreda Street, Battersea, failing to turn up for his trial first scheduled for last Monday.
Hammerton was on the run for more than a week and fled to Ireland but he was arrested at Gatwick Airport as he returned to this country at the weekend.
He was brought back before a judge at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday, where he changed his pleas to guilty.
theneedleblog 
my name is David Phillips I was there in the mid 70s with my brother Peter we were both in Stainton house. I have a lot of memories from that time and I have a great memory
mr d. Took us fishing
mr Townsend took metal work
mr jones took woodworking
mr Lonsdale. Took art
mr lorry took maths
mr Scott the ww2 tank commander done farm
mr shadwick. Craft and quizzes
mr Flynn. Done gardens
mr Nicholson. Governor
mr Bradley. 2nd in command
d.p888@outlook.com
Thank you for looking for for me and us
if you’re interested in sharing your experience
I was in the pantomime with you
l have got a copy of the leaflet with you and the cast
on it l will dig it out and send you a pic. I was one of the wishie washie girls with Darren chapmam. It’s a historic thing that my mum kept. I remember going on tour with the troupe. 😂😂😂
Fredrick Harris Fredrickharris087@gmail.com if no me email me I was there in the 80
Don’t even recognise your name & I don’t want to contact you! My comment was left on needlepoint.com
Thats good ,i was there in the 70s , in stainton, i didnt recognise your name, but i had the courtesy to ask you something, i dont even remember my comment , you sound like you got something to hide! tell me what unit you were in ,or are you just a fraud who was never there, if you were & it was in the 70s youd know the worst abuse occurred in sherrats! i cant remember his name? the housemaster & if your excuse for not wanting to talk to me is you dont remember my name, tell me what house you were in & il give you some names youl remember, if you were ever there. now get lost
Reading all your responses, YOU sound like a proper prick. Unintelligent at that.
go do one yer fkin Nonce!
I think our respective IQs have been expressed as to who the Prick , like i said ,y dont even try & be cordial, your a bitter nonce IMO so fu
yeah you said, real interesting perspective! Im writting this to rty &find some lads & you treat it like a fkin joke! its like a fkin maze in here, this website, look for the Master & greeted by fools, can anyone with a double digit IQ assist ,or im outta here
i
Did anyone know a J R Hartley with his book on fly fishing, “Whats my name”? J R Hartley i was at kinton too,! with my old friend on Stainton? yeah yer fool! jeez your stupid?
what the actual is wrong with you?
Needlepoint.com ,You keep telling me I have already made comments that i never made? Iv never emailed you in my life
wether you know it or not i got email from you! but you can jog on, i only left messages on this site?
i dont know what your talking about to question me is an Insult! people claim to have been there like Girls???? it was an all boys school, i just dont understand why i should be doubted? just check your records1
Hi people I was at kinton in the 80s I was on gateston unit and some of things that went on still reverberate with me now and change my life completely I became very very angry and through the things that happened to me I spent a large portion of my life in and out of different interstuions ie prison and mental hospital s I need to contact someone who can take my grievances to surrey County Council and explain why these people got away and could do what they could do contact for me is ayres steffan080@gmail.com
I was in Stainton house,through the 80s & Hammerton wasn’t on gatesden.? He was our housemaster and Jackson was also in Stainton,, & i saw him abusing one lad in the toilet? So if you were in gatesden? How did he get you onto Stainton,? I or one of the boy’s would have noticed, I spent 8 mths in sherrats too, I experienced beatings from the bearded housemaster, i forget his name? .
seems the people who claim to have been there when i was trying to link up with some old mates & maybe talk about our experiences during & after Kinton , are hostile & rude ? i dont understand , & suspect they werent there! though why someone would claim to have experienced the place ,just like me 3 yrs + ,but dont want to talk about it???? i dont get it?
Hi mark I was thier in the mid 70s onwards , I remember a few names like mark rear, cliff snelling , Terry bracken , I even remember kinton putting on a pantomime one year ALladin
I do believe my best friend on the street ,we were given care orders together, . his name was Trevor Newman Or jock to his friends,He was in chuchill house, ??? its so hared to find anyone, i think theyre not computer wise or dead but iv had not 1 resonse???????????
My friend trev,,was in the alldidin play, his name was Trevor Newman, I’m sure i already told you this, but i find this website difficult to navigate, & instead of being a scource to find old comrades has been frustrated by idiots, who appear to be pissed off by their CICA decisions?? Some of us are genuinely trying to connect with old friends, not whining about failures to attain compensation. Me too! So ,aint we all content. Anyone remember Dave Green? A small black lad & my best friend in Stainton⁶
Did Trevour have blonde hair mate , I actually played alladin himself the princess was a female member of staff
like me, ? your life after kinton was similar to mine. I spent my time in DC,s ,Borstals 2 prisons i spent about 7 in parc F1 ,Broadmoor 12 yrs & other ‘orrible places
Hi I was in the oaks around 1990.I was in there with Jason sea grove,Tiffany Laurence ,Ben and lots more that I can’t remember.if you remember me pls get in touch at garywebb978@aol.Com thanks
Hammerton room was on the same landind as myself, How did he get to you on Gatesden?
Abused in the care and sent back being told I was lying by the social worker who sent me there. Andy Slater, Paul Eccles along with other scum have a lot to answer for.
Hi my name’s Fred Harris I was at the oaks center in 1984/85 if anyone remembers me message me at harrisfred071@gmail.com
Hi I was at the oaks center in mayford green were we use to b physically twisted up and regaly punched by different members of staff we told are social worker nothing was ever done I was in garston and station we were treated like dogs
I remember you Freddie x
Who’s this if u remember me call me 07751 020425
I would like to know who avalanche is
too late for me fred, im just trying to find someone who was there in the 70,s it was me who rescued & completely restored the snooker table, me & dicky scott did it for stainton
Hi norman, i got there just as the units were being opened, that was my cue for admission, i had been at Beechfield, & shelleys the only mixed place i saw, think i would have been a little young for the dorms?. did you spend all your time in the old house & yard? or did you see the units?
I don’t know why
I just got this message today.
I’m .
Best to contact me at
norman.richardson1@hotmail.co.uk
My Names Helen Robertson myself & 5 Younger syblings were taken into Care in 1974 but we were split up! 3 of my syblings were in Burbank Woking & i am desperate to find out if my Brother Darren Robertson “Afro Hair” was ever in Kinton, now known as the Oaks? Please if anyone remembers him plz email me helenbellagh18@gmail.com
i was there about the same time, but i dont recall the name? do you know unit he was on, or if he might have used an alias?