How Could You? Hall of Shame-Wales-Sandra Clayton

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Essex County, Wales, foster carer Sandra Clayton “made children fight for food and drink bleach, subjecting children in her care to “extreme” abuse, including scalding hot showers. Sandra Clayton, from Brightlingsea, forced soiled underwear into two of her foster children’s mouths as a punishment.

She would make her foster children go out into the cold, subject them to beatings, make them sleep on the floor, and would slash their feet with a knife if they tried to get away from her, reports EssexLive.

She would also play a sadistic game where she would grab the children by their limbs and spin them around and then let go, causing injuries as they collided with furniture and walls. When the children’s injuries were too serious to conceal, Clayton would force them to lie to authorities.

One victim has just been awarded compensation from Essex County Council for the abuse he was subjected to while in foster care. He said he was regularly pushed down the stairs, bitten on the face, forced to stand naked while items were thrown at him, coerced to harm himself, kept in a coal bunker for extended periods of time, chased around the house naked by a dog trained to bite his ankles, and force-fed food until he would vomit – and was then made to eat the vomit.

He was once hospitalised for eight days after being launched across the room. The full extent of the abuse was detailed at Ipswich Crown Court in 2017, where Clayton pleaded guilty to three charges of cruelty to a person under age 16 and was sentenced to four years in prison.

The victim approached law firm Leigh Day to bring a claim on his behalf against Essex County Council for the abuse he was subjected to while in foster care. The claim has now been settled for a five-figure sum.”

Payment for victim of foster carer who subjected terrible abuse
[Wales Online 5/16/23 by Ellis Whitehouse and Neil Shaw]

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