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January 7, 2001 |
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United Kingdom: Scotland
Tuesday
August 15, 2000
16:14 GMT
'BROKEN TEETH' CLAIM AT NUN TRIAL
A WOMAN HAS TOLD A COURT THAT A NUN THREW HER AGAINST A WALL, breaking her front teeth,
when she was 13 years old.
Helen Cusiter, 43, was giving evidence on the second day of a trial at Aberdeen Sheriff
Court.
Marie Docherty, 59, also known as Sister Alphonso, denies 23 charges of cruel treatment of
children at Nazareth House homes in Aberdeen and Midlothian between 1965 and 1980.
Mrs. Cusiter, who lived at the home in Aberdeen from 1967 to 1971, said Sister Alphonso
would pick on children and "batter" them up to three times a week.
she told the court she had been sitting on a swing at the home in Aberdeen when sister
Alphonso grabbed her hair without warning and threw her into the wall, breaking four of
her front teeth.
earlier, she said that in another incident the nun had turned "as red as a
lobster" while beating her with her fists and boots for stealing sweets from a nearby
shop.
Mrs. Cusiter said Sister Alphonso only stopped when she thought she was unconscious, but
later denied carrying out the beating.
After one beating, her bruises had been noticed during a school PE class and the matter
raised with the headmaster.
Made To Kiss Feet ...
"I was covered in bruises. The whole of my body was black and blue,"
she told the court.
On another occasion, she said she was made to kiss the nun's feet to gain permission to go
swimming. "It was so degrading, humiliating," Mrs. Cusiter added.
The witness also recalled going to Sister Alphonso when she had her first period. She said
the nun called her "a dirty bitch" and said that was what happened to people who
did not behave.
It was God's punishment and she would have until midnight and would then die, Mrs. Cusiter
said she was told.
Under cross-examination by defence advocate Paul Cullen QC, Mrs. Cusiter said she believed
some members of the Order of the Poor Sisters of Nazareth had "got
together" to fabricate evidence relating to the case.
She said: "Under the habits they are only human after all.
Damages Action ...
"They haven't got wings attached to their backs. They're no angels."
Asked about a civil action she has raised seeking E150,000 damages from the order for
psychiatric problems, Mrs. Cusiter claimed she was not after money but justice.
The charges further accuse Docherty of washing girls' hair with disinfectant and forcing
them to wear soiled underwear and bed linen on their heads.
Other allegations include forcing some youngsters to kiss a dead nun.
The trial continues.
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