Former Scottish Sisters of Nazareth sentenced for abuse in children’s care homes

In Scotland, a former Sister of Nazareth nun has been jailed for 15 months for abusing children and vulnerable young people.

Carol Buirds, 75, was sentenced to the custodial sentence in Edinburgh Sheriff Court after having been found guilty in late November of causing children unnecessary suffering and injury when she worked at Nazareth homes between 1972 and 1981.

At the sentencing hearing another former nun, Eileen McElhinney, 78, was given probation, ordered to do 240 hours of unpaid community service, and must remain at home between 4 p.m. and midnight for nine months.

Retired support worker Dorothy Kane, 68, was given a community service order with a requirement to complete 150 hours of unpaid work within nine months.

The offenses took place at Nazareth House homes in Lasswade, Midlothian, and Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire.

Following a five-week trial, Buirds, previously known as Sister Carmel Rose, was found guilty of 13 charges including assault to severe injury. Her offenses included rubbing urine-soaked bedding on children, forcing food and soap into their mouths, and locking one child in a cupboard and another in an unlit cellar without access to water.

She was also found to have repeatedly assaulted children, often using implements such as a belt, a wooden ruler, and a stick.

Sheriff Iain Nicol, in sentencing Buirds, told her that the seriousness of her offenses merited a custodial sentence. Some of her victims continue to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health conditions, including suicidal thoughts. As a result of the experience, one of the complainants was in the hospital for a year and rendered mute for a period of five years.

Nicol said: “Relationships with family members have been affected and some describe an inability to form relationships, or trust other people, or show emotion to people they love even now, 50 years after the abuse. Marriages have broken down and employment opportunities lost. Some describe their lives as having been ruined by what you did to them.”

He noted that the Probation Service report indicated she did not take any responsibility for her offending and that she was in denial, showing no remorse whatsoever, and casting doubt on the truthfulness of the complainers.

McElhinney, known as Sister Mary Eileen, was convicted on five charges of assault and using cruel and unnatural treatment at a Nazareth House care home in Lasswade between 1972 and 1975. She punched one child and assaulted a second victim, threatening him with violence and repeatedly striking his buttocks with a hairbrush. The victim, who is now in his 60s, described her kicks and how she “then put her hands on the bunk beds and jumped on me several times.”

In sentencing McElhinney, Nicol noted that she hasn’t denied the abuse, is at low risk of reoffending, and will accept the court’s judgment.

“These were children who were in Nazareth House because of difficulties experienced in their family lives. They needed, and were entitled to expect, care and nurturing to help them through a difficult period in their lives. You were in a position of trust. You abused that trust by physically abusing them.

“These offenses were committed at the beginning of your vocation as a nun when you were young and the social worker considers it may well be the case that you were highly susceptible to the influence of older and more experienced nuns.” Over the last 50 years McElhinney has worked as a social worker and a volunteer, supporting vulnerable individuals.

Support worker Kane was found to have cruelly and unnaturally treated children in her care at Lasswade between 1980 and 1981. Her offenses included dragging one boy down a corridor, failing to intervene when she witnessed abuse, and locking a child in a cupboard.

Nicol told Kane: “Whilst the complainers have been caused unnecessary suffering and injury, these offenses, in comparison to your co-accused’s convictions, can be considered the least serious.”

He paid tribute to the plaintiffs’ “bravery and fortitude” in giving evidence saying they victim impact statements made for “harrowing” reading. The victims, who are all now adults, were between 5 and 14 years old when the abuse began.

Faith Currie, procurator fiscal for Lothian and Borders at the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: “Carol Buirds, Eileen McElhinney, and Dorothy Kane were entrusted with the care of vulnerable children, but instead they betrayed that trust and inflicted lasting harm through their criminal actions. Although these offenses took place decades ago, such abuse has never been acceptable and should never have happened.”

The ongoing Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has heard evidence of widespread abuse at orphanages run by the Sisters of Nazareth.