‘At first, I suspected it was just the priest in charge of the orphanage, but I later found out some of the nuns also beat the children. He was a pompous, self-righteous man who believed it was “God’s will” that children who were unruly should be punished and the use of a belt was appropriate. He described Stephen as a “problem child” who needed to learn right from wrong,’ Barnes said, his sadness turning to anger.

‘What did the priest say when you told him Stephen had committed suicide?’

‘He considered it to be a mortal sin. His exact words were, “We must say what we know is the truth – taking your own life is a sin against God who made us.” The church even refused to hold a funeral mass for Stephen because he’d committed suicide.’

‘I never realised the Catholic Church could be so strict.’

‘Neither did I. The sad thing is, it took a child’s suicide to open my eyes. An orphanage should be a safe place where children are loved by adults they can trust, not a place that fills them with fear of physical abuse.’

‘Were they sexually abused as well?’

‘I don’t know for certain. But I believe the priest got a sadistic pleasure out of humiliating and inflicting bodily harm on the children under his care, some of whom were only six years old. It beggars belief that anyone of any faith could mistreat innocent children the way they did.’

Jane could see the sadness in Barnes’s eyes, but thought it strange he never said the priest’s name.

‘What was the outcome?’

‘The archbishop got involved. He informed my DCI the diocese would carry out a thorough investigation and I was told to await the outcome. A week passed and I’d heard nothing, so I went to the orphanage and said I wanted to interview some of the older children and have them examined by a police doctor. The priest refused to let me in the door.’

‘On what grounds?’

‘That the archbishop was still conducting his investigation and I would cause the children undue stress and disrupt their daily routine. The next thing I knew the divisional commander wanted to see me in his office. The archbishop had complained that my behaviour was overbearing and accused me of persecuting one of his priests. I was told to mark the case file up as a suicide by a mentally unstable child.’

Jane was staggered. ‘That’s awful. How could a commander condone serious assaults against young children?’

‘The archbishop used the law to his advantage. Corporal punishment in schools and orphanages is justified by the common-law doctrine known as in loco parentis, whereby teachers are granted the same rights as parents to discipline and punish children in their care if they do not adhere to the rules.’