Feb 15th, 2003.

The Dinner Dance in aid of the Moira Anderson Foundation raised over £3000.

Victoria Nursery Class children and friends joined MAF staff, our landlord James Bell, and designer Madelene Thompson in a 'Ground Force' afternoon to plant flowers and pot seeds at the
back of the Centre. What a difference it has made. Lots of hard work by the children and adults has transformed what was a dump into a colourful, peaceful spot ideal for picnics or playing.

Chocolate creme eggs and certificates were presented by Fiona Leggat to all who helped create a beautiful play area and garden for us and our neighbours in Gallery Homes, based on a design by Ami, age 11.

Big thank you's also were expressed to North Lanarkshire Forward, and the Scottish Forestries Trust which helped with grants, and to the local Parks Department which helped clear all the area and donated play items.

Courting disaster for child witnesses [The Scotsman, Tuesday 16 September 2003 ]
TANYA THOMPSON, HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT

Vicky's face stares out from a television screen, just yards from the men accused of subjecting her to years of sexual abuse. Her long blonde hair tied in braids, the 11-year-old fidgets nervously in her seat, clutching a doll to her chest as jurors at the High Court in Edinburgh wait to hear her speak.

A wigless Lord MacLean,"dressed down"; in suit and tie to put the child at ease, asks about the girl's favourite television programme - Sabrina The Teenage Witch - and her favourite lesson at school - drama. Then, inevitably, the judge carefully steers the conversation towards the serious allegations of child sexual abuse.
Now 14, the girl will never forget court, nor the ten days of gruelling testimony which she gave in July 2001. Tragically, her evidence proved to be worthless. When her eight-year-old brother took to the stand to make similar allegations, he could not cope, and when he broke down during cross-examination, the case collapsed. The six men from Ayrshire, accused of being members of a paedophile ring, had consistently denied all charges against them. They were freed when the Crown Office abandoned the case. Clearly disturbed at the prospect of giving evidence, the boy began to sob, and he was prevented from continuing on medical advice. Lord MacLean told the jury it would not be in the best interests of the boy to complete his evidence. Crucially, the judge said there was no alternative to cross-examination as a means of testing the evidence of children in a criminal trial. But the case provoked a public outcry and there were calls for a review of the way child witnesses were treated in court.

Two years on and campaigners say little has changed. Children continue to be thrust into adult courts where, through a combination of fear and nerves, they are unable to give a good account of themselves. Now, new laws aimed at protecting vulnerable witnesses in Scotland have been dismissed as a wasted opportunity. Far from being a "Bill of Rights" for minors who give evidence in court, there is growing concern that the Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Bill will leave much to the discretion of judges.

Sandra Brown, of the Moira Anderson Foundation, a children's charity, claims the legislation fails to address fundamental problems in the justice system. She says: "The present system is about destroying children as witnesses in court. The aggressive cross-examination of child witnesses is designed to break them. This new law is all about tinkering with what's already in place and softening the blow. It's a wasted opportunity."

Ms Brown, a former lecturer, argues children should be taken out of court altogether and interviewed in a less threatening environment. "Children should not be anywhere near the High Court," she says. "For this bill to work, they have to stop children giving evidence in court. In this day and age we have video conferencing, which means children do not need to go to court."

According to the bill, in cases of a sexual or violent nature, children under 12 will"not normally" have to go to court to give evidence. However, critics say the wording is too vague and such witnesses should be guaranteed exemption from court appearances. Following the collapse of the Edinburgh case, the six accused called for a public inquiry in the hope of clearing their names, and both sides insisted the outcome of the case was far from satisfactory. Derek Ogg, QC, a defence lawyer in the trial, says the way child witnesses were handled must be changed. Although he rebuts criticism of how the children were treated by the defence, he agrees that reforms were needed to help ease the trauma faced by children. "There is nothing that can change the gruesome and distressing nature of some evidence children may have to give ... but I think we could do a lot more to help them make the best of giving that evidence," he says.

Joyce Plotnikoff, a legal researcher, accuses ministers of short-changing victims because of a failure to implement a raft of measures to protect children in the courts. She was commissioned by the then Lord Advocate, Lord Rodger, in 1995 to carry out a study on how to bring about changes in the way child witnesses were dealt with. This was presented in 1999. Four years on, Ms Plotnikoff says the bulk of her recommendations have been forgotten. As part of the new bill, children under 12 should have their evidence pre-recorded on video in advance of a trial. However, they may still have to be cross-examined, using CCTV in an annexe of the courtroom. She says: "A lot of my recommendations have fallen by the wayside. I am in despair. They had a genuine hope their experiences in court would make it better for other children."

The mother of the children at the centre of the Edinburgh case says her concerns had been met with a wall of silence. Despite putting forward more than 60 recommendations to the Crown Office to improve the lot of child witnesses, she claims little had changed. "When you read the small print of this bill, nothing much has changed at all. For children to be anywhere near the court is wrong. They should be taken out of the equation altogether."She remains bitter about the Crown's handling of the case, and has no doubt her son would have been able to withstand questioning had he been allowed to give evidence externally. "If he had not been in the court he would have been able to cope. We felt at the time that things would change because of what happened in our case, but we have seen no difference."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Executive insists great strides have been taken to protect vulnerable witnesses: "The accused has the right to a fair trial and the defence has to be allowed to ask questions. It is for the judge to ensure that the line of questioning is not inappropriate."

The Executive is expected to publish guidelines in the next month on how to take evidence and interview children who have been abused. The girl's name, Vicky, has been changed to protect her identity. This article is edited and has been reduced for the website.

2003 Annual Conference 'As Safe As Houses?'  

Following the success of 'Sins of the Father' conference MAF held its 2nd annual Conference on Tuesday 18th November 2003. Taking place at The Tudor Hotel, Alexander Street, Airdrie. This event coincided with the 10th Anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The theme of the Conference was 'As Safe As Houses?* which addressed the issues of child witness protection. The Foundation took the opportunity to promote its Safe House which is secretly located in central Scotland. High profile speakers on the day included Martin Kettle, (who was the professional adviser with Child Protection Program of the Scottish Executive), Detective Sergeant Graham Vance of Strathclyde Police and Assistant Chief Constable Jim Gamble of the National Serious Crime Squad. This conference was of great value to those working in the following sectors: Social Work, Police, Education and Health.  The successful day was chaired by TV personality Kay Adams. Kay is seen above with Trustee Colin Scougall, Mary McKenzie, MAF Project worker and two drama students from Coatbridge College.