Foster carers who kept children in 'house of horrors' guilty of abuse

A couple who locked one of their foster children in a chicken coop have been convicted of historical abuse.

Douglas Daniel, 80, and wife Barbara, 75, tormented six foster children aged between four and 14 at their home in Glasgow's Parkhead between 1986 and 1991.

Victims alleged the pair forced some youngsters into an animal pen, ordered one to bathe in a bird bath and made another eat a cow tongue meant for a pet ferret.

The couple, now of Kent in England, denied the claims but were found unanimously guilty of six charges of cruel and unnatural treatment of a child at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

Sheriff Louise Arrol told them they had been convicted of "unspeakable abuse".

She said their home was meant to be a place of sanctuary for children in their care, but instead had become "nothing short of a house of horrors".

The court heard that the Daniels started fostering the first of their 100 children in 1986.

One, now aged 48, was nine when she and her four-year-old sister went to live with them.

She told the court how her sister, who had a fear of chickens, was "screaming" after Douglas forced her into the coop before locking it from the outside.

Another victim, now aged 53, told how she was forced to stand outside the home with a gaggle of geese who would nip at her skin and cause red marks which "would not go away".

She said this was a punishment for refusing to eat food such as goose eggs.

The court also heard that Barbara pushed one girl into a bath the birds would "bathe or defecate" in and was not allowed to leave until told.

The same woman said she was once served a Sunday roast, but it had been taken away from her and replaced with a cow tongue, describing it as "the most disgusting thing she had ever seen".

Some of the victims told jurors that they were not fed by the Daniels. Another claimed she ate from the kitchen floor.

A 47-year-old man who stayed with the Daniels told jurors that Barbara was seen as the "boss" while Douglas, a retired car mechanic, was a "scary physical man."

The man recalled instances where he was forced to stand outside in the heat against a wall.

Barbara Daniel's violence included hitting one of the girls with a wooden spoon and pulling a victim by her hair.

Douglas, who had a previous conviction for dishonesty, also attacked one of the girls by slapping them and ordered a victim to strip naked to check for injuries.

During the trial, he told the court the incidents "never happened," adding that there was "no truth" to any of the claims.

Sentencing was deferred until March, pending background reports, and the Daniels' bail was continued meantime.

Sheriff Arrol said: "These were vulnerable children who were removed from their caregivers and taken to a place of safety which was supposed to be you.

"I cannot understand human beings behaving in this way, let alone towards children.

"I commend your victims for coming forward to relive lifelong trauma and today justice has caught up with you."