The home's superintendent, a former Labour councillor, Alan Prescott, 79, had indecently assaulted four teenage boys at various points during the 1970s.

The boys were subjected to horrific assaults from a gang of paedophiles who would enter the dormitories at night. St Leonard’s was operated by Tower Hamlets London Borough Council from the late 1960’s until the early 1980’s. He who does not bellow the truth when he knows the truth makes himself the accomplice of liars and forgers.” Charles Peguy

This book was a real eye opener for me and has made me grateful for my own childhood. Paul Connolly was abandoned as a baby and wound up in an awful children's home, where all the children suffered some level of abuse. This book was not easy reading at times as Paul explains how there was a lot of emotional, psychological, physical and also sexual abuse in the home. I felt my eyes fill up with tears many times. It is a true testament to just what a character Paul has managed to become though, as through all the horrors in his story he also managed to make me laugh out loud on multiple occasions. E] SurvivorsJustice Triggers post http://survivorsjustice.com/2014/02/26/triggers-what-are-they-and-how-do-we-work-through-them/ Paul Connolly told us that children at St Leonard’s were often “ snatched” from their dormitories and raped. [2] It was “ a brutal environment in which sexual and physical abuse were ever present”. [3] He had fought off attempts to snatch him: Then, at the age of eight he was moved to St leonard’s children’s home in Tower Hamlets. It was to be a life-changing move, for all the wrong reasons. From the Principal, down, the home was run by a paedophile ring. From then on, Paul’s childhood and schooling was fi lled with violence and mental torture.

It came out, after certain reporting restrictions were lifted at the Old Bailey, that St Leonard's was not just a home for children without a place to go, but paedophiles. The home was made up of several dormitories where the children would sleep, with up to 12 beds in each building. Read More Related Articles

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In and out of trouble with the law since he was very young, Paul Connolly was not well pleased when, in his twenties, two policewomen came to his door. The news they told him stunned him. Of all the children in his dormitory at the abusive orphanage where he’d grown up, only he and one other were still alive. Most likely as a result of the horrendous sexual abuse they had suffered, nearly all his friends had committed suicide. The news made Paul reconsider the direction of his whole life and start to make something positive from it. The Best You discovers how despite the worst of beginnings, Paul Connolly became a famous celebrity fitness trainer and a bestselling author – even though he only learned to read when he was 25 years old. J] 2016 Jan 5 Hwaairfan blog An Indigenous Australian Approach to Healing Trauma https://hwaairfan.wordpress.com/2016/01/05/an-indigenous-australian-approach-to-healing-trauma/ I got into boxing and the trainers were the first role models who didn't want to rape us," said Paul. These were the first sort of serious role models that I found weren’t trying to bugger me or beat me up.” he recalls. He left school at 14 and started work on a veg stall in Romford market. He looked set to become a professional boxer and was about to sign a contract at the age of 18, when a severe accident meant that he technically died from loss of blood. The next few years were a struggle. St Leonard’s was a children’s home in Essex operated by Tower Hamlets London Borough Council (Tower Hamlets) from the late 1960s until it closed in the early 1980s. It comprised a series of family cottages, run by a house father and house mother together with other members of staff. [1] Allegations of sexual abuse