A woman whose care home abuse was revealed when someone read her teenage diary has been awarded £100,000 in compensation, five years after the man who attacked her was sent to prison.
Holly Hamilton of Falkirk was preyed on by Gordon Collins, her carer. He swooped upon Holly when she was 15 years old and was working at a council-run children’s unit.
Holly, now 31, has waived her right of anonymity and revealed that her abuser was Holly on a gym slide, in the gym, and that he even wanted her to leave him for his wife, despite her being 35 years younger than him.
However, he was not caught and it took another ten year before he was finally sentenced.
Holly Hamilton, who was a victim of sexual abuse aged 15 now suffers from Complex Post Traumatic Stress, chronic insomnia, agoraphobia and flashbacks
Holly was 14 years old when her parents divorced. She was sent first to Northfield, but she ended up at St Katharine’s after her behavior began to deteriorate. Pictured at 15
Holly received her payout and said that it made a mockery about the devastating effect of paedophilia on her life.
She said: ‘I lost my fiancé. My house was destroyed. I lost my job. Gordon Collins caused me to lose everything.
“I am suffering from complex post-traumatic stress disorder. I suffer from chronic insomnia. “I have not experienced a regular night of sleep for five years.
“I experience flashbacks almost every day, and I sometimes hallucinate when I think I saw him.
Collins spent 10 years prison time for abusing four children (including Holly) between 1995 and 2006. The abuse occurred at two residential homes for children run by the City of Edinburgh Council, St Katharine’s and Northfield Young Persons Unit.
“I am a severe sufferer of agoraphobia. If I am near someone who looks even slightly like them, my face transforms into theirs.
“And the worst part is that if they had listened to my in the beginning, I would have set my life straight by now.
Collins spent 10 years behind bars for abusing four children between 1995 and 2006. The abuse occurred at two residential homes for children run by Northfield Young Persons Unit and St Katharine’s.
Holly was 14 when her parents divorced. She was sent first to Northfield, but she ended up at St Katharine’s after her behavior began to deteriorate.
Holly was a self-harmer for over two decades after finally admitting to her abuse. Holly even made Gordon’s initials in her thigh, as she didn’t think staff believed her. Holly is now
Holly lived in a shared room with two girls. While she was on her own, they read Holly’s diary. It detailed Collins’ abuse. Holly, aged fourteen
Collins was originally met by Collins in Northfield. He was then a caregiver. She said that he was well-liked by her children because he spent time with them playing pool and distributing sweets.
After she moved to St Katharine’s, he was there as a carer.
Holly claimed that Holly began to find excuses for Holly to be with him, answering her every time she called her buzzer and taking her to the gym.
Gordon Collins, who was accused of abusing Holly Hamilton in a residential care home. In June 2016, he was sentenced to six-year imprisonment for indecency charges against four girls under 18 and one of their rapes.
“I was young. It was foolish. Holly recalls that he paid attention to me when I visited this children’s home.
“At the beginning, I believed it was a romantic relationship. He would bring me sweets, and then he’d just take time to spend with me.
“At that time, I wanted someone to be kind and considerate of me as an adult. Not as a little girl.”
Then he began doing unprofessional things like cuddling Holly, and then he began kissing her cheeks before moving on to the lips.
Holly said, “It then got to my neck, biting and groping me on the neck. Then he told me how much I loved him.”
“It was in my bedroom, in education corridor, and in the gym.
“A few months later, I told him that this needed to end, it doesn’t feel right.” He backed me against a wall, and said, “You know, I love you. You know, my wife isn’t paying me much attention. I don’t like her. I just want to be with your.”
“He never mentioned his age.”
Collins took her to court after 2 months of sexual assaults.
Holly sought the advice of a solicitor in August 2017 and it took four years to secure a £100,000 payout from the City of Edinburgh Council. Holly is now
“That was when I became really anxious and fearful. This shouldn’t happen, I thought. Holly agreed.
In one instance, Collins was seen groping Holly while they were going down an inflatable slide that had been set up in the center’s gym hall. He even reached for her to rip the top.
Holly went on an activity vacation with a group of people from the centre in July 2006. This was a month after she had turned 16 years old.
Two other girls shared her room and, while she was on her own, they read and found her journal. It contained details about Collins’ abuse.
Holly was interviewed by staff and informed. However, Holly admitted that she didn’t want them to talk to her because she believed she’d committed a crime and she didn’t want him to be in trouble.
“It did not occur to me that I had been 15 years old and he had just turned 50.
Police received Holly’s diary and were alerted. But, Collins later claimed that the evidence was not sufficient and she resigned.
Holly continued self-harming for two more years and even put Gordon’s initials in her thigh to prove she was still believing the staff.
She severed her wrists.
Tragically, at 17 she developed a heroin addiction. She was able to clean up a year later.
She got a job and moved to Lanarkshire where she met her fiancé.
In 2014 however, her 24-year-old birthday saw her confronted by officers about her abuse.
“They claimed they knew my diary pages, which they had gotten ten years earlier.” Holly explained that they had not seen my diary since Holly was 15.
Collins had also been a victim of abuse while he was caring for other teens.
In June 2016, he was sentenced at six years for indecency charges against four girls under 18 and the rape one of them.
He later appealed to have the sentence increased to ten years.
Holly had not been investigated for his 1997 conduct, and Holly was then suspended.
Jane Farquharson was the advocate depute and stated before Edinburgh High Court, “Rather than caring for these children, he sought to exploit them.”
St Katharine’s is among eight institutions under investigation by The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.
Holly sought the advice of a solicitor in August 2017 and it took four years to secure a £100,000 payout from the City of Edinburgh Council.
The worst aspect of this case, according to her now is the “cover-up culture” within local councils.
She said that in some cases, it was worse than abuse.
“The number of failures that they noted was unbelievable. The management refused to believe the young girls’ accusations because it was rumours and trouble making.
‘I’m not saying I’m doing this because I want £1m, that’s not the case, but I wanted to just not worry about having to rush to get mentally better and having to go out to work.’
“I am able to spend my time with my therapist, healing, and without stress.
Holly’s solicitor, Karyn McPhee of Slater & Gordon, said: ‘I was pleased that the legal team working on Holly’s behalf secured a settlement for her shortly before her case was due to proceed to a hearing in the Court of Session.
“Holly was an admirable person who was calm and collected throughout all the proceedings. She was also admired by everyone that had worked with her.”
Edinburgh City Council spokesperson said that they do not comment on legal issues.
Police Scotland’s Public Protection Unit in Edinburgh said that Keith Fairbairn (detective inspector) stated: “A report of sexual abuse in 2006 was thoroughly investigated by Lothian and Borders Police and the suspect was taken into custody and interviewed. He was freed without being charged.
Police Scotland conducted a further investigation and found that this was linked to a 2011 report about non-recent sexual abuse involving offences between 1995-1997.
Moorov said that this provided confirmation.
“Further proactive investigations identified two additional complainants. These reports, taken together, led to Gordon Collins’ trial and conviction in 2016.
Police Scotland is committed to responding immediately to all reports of child abuse.
“We are aware of the difficulty in reporting such offenses, but we assure you that we will listen to your concerns and will conduct an investigation.”
If you are a child victim or someone you know, call 101.