Celtic Boys Club manager 'stuffed banknotes in boy's mouth'

[ian1964 10,410]

 

[MacK1950 2,231]

1 hour ago, ian1964 said:

 

Does this imply that the inquiry/court case into the abuse will be finished giving the Nats time to consider how to hide or give a true answer to their intent?.

[ian1964 10,410]

 

[Uilleam 5,409]

Another article from Marc Horne in today's Times.

 

"Celtic FC did not respond to a request for comment."

 

O'Merta Football Club maintains a far from dignified silence. 

 

 

Celtic magazine article ‘demolishes’ club’s abuse defence, claim lawyers

Marc Horne

Thursday August 06 2020, 12.01am, The Times

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/celtic-magazine-article-demolishes-clubs-abuse-defence-claim-lawyers-stc2cpgkz

 

Celtic FC insists the Celtic Boys Club is a separate entity

 

Celtic FC funded its scandal-hit feeder team and employed one of its key figures, prompting lawyers representing victims to claim it “demolishes” the club’s defence before a legal battle.

 

Celtic Boys Club has been engulfed by allegations of systematic sexual misconduct over three decades, prompting claims that it represents the largest child abuse scandal in British football.

Legal papers were lodged in June on behalf of a survivor who is seeking damages from the Parkhead club.

The test case is expected to be heard at the Court of Session within months.

 

Celtic FC is strongly contesting the claims, insisting the boys’ club was an entirely separate entity with which it had “historic connections”.

However, its stance appears to be contradicted by new evidence which confirms Celtic FC directly invested money into the feeder team and employed Frank Cairney, who headed the boys’ club, for two decades.

 

The ties between the clubs were confirmed in an article from Celtic View, Celtic FC’s official magazine, in April 1990. It confirms the boys’ club held its AGM at Parkhead and offers congratulations to Mr Cairney, the general manager, who was “in his 20th year on the Celtic staff”. Mr Cairney was quoted as saying that the work that was being done by him and his fellow officials was “appreciated by the people that matter at Celtic Park”.

The article also confirmed that Celtic FC had funded the feeder club, stating: “Honorary president Kevin Kelly said that Celtic FC chairman Jack McGinn and his board of directors were totally committed to the boy’s club and fully appreciated the tremendous service that Celtic received from them. He added that the board had already taken a decision to increase their support and investment in the boys’ club.”

An article in Celtic View two years earlier said the “Celtic directors, management and staff are fully committed to the Celtic Boys Club organisation”, adding “There is 100 per cent support from everybody at the club.” However, when questioned by The Times Mr McGinn insisted Celtic Boys Club was a “separate, autonomous body”.

 

In 1986 Celtic FC held an internal investigation into the abuse allegations which concluded they were false and “scurrilous”, clearing the coaching staff.

 

A spokesman for Thompsons Solicitors, which represents more than 20 individuals who claim they were molested at the boys’ club, said: “In Celtic’s own words, in their own official publication, a boys’ club official describes himself as a Celtic employee and the Celtic board of directors are happy to state they support and invest in the boys club.

“For anyone to contend that the two organisations were separate entities is clearly false and deeply insulting to all those who were abused as child footballers whilst under the care of Celtic.”

 

Mr Cairney replaced Jim Torbett, the founder of the boys’ club, who has twice been jailed for sex attacks. In January the Crown Office confirmed that Mr Cairney had been charged and was involved in a “live solemn case”. The Times understands that the charges relate to the alleged sexual abuse of young people and that Mr Cairney, of Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, will appear in court within months.

 

Celtic FC did not respond to a request for comment.

 

Comments for this article have been turned off

Edited August 6, 2020 by Uilleam

[Gonzo79 13,589]

38 minutes ago, Uilleam said:

"For anyone to contend that the two organisations were separate entities is clearly false and deeply insulting to all those who were abused as child footballers whilst under the care of Celtic"

One would hope anyone making such comments would be held responsible for their lies.  

[Uilleam 5,409]

14 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

One would hope anyone making such comments would be held responsible for their lies.  

Rasellik, when it has felt the need to comment at all, has parroted the separate entity line under legal advisement. 

This defence, as far as I can see, is that de iure -technically legally- they were distinct organisations. That is probably a valid,  if strictly formal, argument.

The victims position is that de facto, by practice, by habit, by repute, and through informal quasi-contractual and financial arrangements, they were not. 

Those peddling rasellik view are most likely to be held responsible solely in the court of public opinion, more's the pity.

(Unless, of course, they engage in perjury, or otherwise attempt to defeat the ends of justice; or have other criminal charges laid

against them. )

 

 

[ian1964 10,410]

 

[ian1964 10,410]

 

[Malangsob 1,196]

Hell is the absence of God. You touch a child and your eternity will be without God. Rightly so.

 

[Uilleam 5,409]

In a futile attempt to drag Freemasonry into the pederasty scandal, 

"Fergus McCann declared that Celtic Boys Club was the “basis of the entire Celtic pyramid” ".

 

He praised the Boys' Club at its AGM, yet within days he was on the blower to Stratchclyde Police. 

Who, or what, "hailed" on his parade?

He didn't know of the appalling, flagrant abuse prior to that AGM. Did he? 

 

From today's Times:

 

Celtic chief Fergus McCann hailed Celtic Boys Club before reporting abuse

Marc Horne

Tuesday August 18 2020, 12.01am, The Times

Football

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/celtic-chief-fergus-mccann-hailed-celtic-boys-club-before-reporting-abuse-brcjwqgt2

 

Fergus McCann declared that Celtic Boys Club was the “basis of the entire Celtic pyramid” days before calling in the police to investigate claims of sexual abuse, The Times can disclose.

The comments by Mr McCann, who was Celtic FC’s managing director, further undermine the club’s refusal to accept responsibility for systemic sexual misconduct at its feeder club.

Legal papers were lodged in June on behalf of an abuse survivor who is seeking damages from the Parkhead club, with a test case expected to be heard at the Court of Session within months.

Celtic FC is strongly contesting the claims, insisting that the boys’ club was an entirely separate entity with which it had “historic connections”.

However, its stance appears to have been contradicted by the emergence of more evidence, including a statement from the club’s board of directors that the feeder club was “very much part of the Celtic family”.

On April 3, 1996, Celtic View, the official club magazine, reported on the 29th Celtic Boys Club AGM. It stated: “The most telling words came from managing director Fergus McCann. He told the boys’ club: ‘You are the basis of the entire Celtic pyramid’. ”

Three days later Strathclyde police confirmed that they had been called in by Mr McCann, a Scottish-Canadian multimillionaire businessman, to investigate “allegations of sexual abuse of young players at Celtic FC”.

It led to the arrest of Jim Torbett, 73, the founder of Celtic Boys Club, who was jailed in 1998 for molesting players, including the future Scotland striker Alan Brazil, between 1967 and 1974. Torbett was jailed for a further six years in 2018 for sexually abusing boys between August 1986 and August 1994.

In June The Times revealed that Celtic FC hired Torbett to run its chain of official merchandise shops in the early 1990s. His company, The Trophy Centre, had a lucrative and long-running contract with the club.

Another Celtic View report from 1989 stated that Jack McGinn, then Celtic FC chairman, had pledged his “continuing support for the boys’ club”.

It added that Kevin Kelly, a Celtic FC director, “highlighted recent cases in which the Celtic chairman had been actively involved in the promotion and the good of the Celtic Boys Club. He also stated that the board of directors considered the boys’ club very much a part of the Celtic family”. However, when questioned by The Times Mr McGinn insisted the Celtic Boys Club was a “separate autonomous body”.

In August 1994 Celtic View carried a photograph of Jimmy Savile collecting a £14,000 charity cheque raised by the sale of the turf at Parkhead before a game with Dundee United.

Savile, the DJ who was publicly recognised as a paedophile after his death in 2011, had been described as a “staunch Celtic supporter”. He was also i did a lap of honour when the team took on Aberdeen in September 1987.

A year earlier Celtic FC had started an internal investigation after serious concerns were raised about the welfare of young players. It cleared the coaching staff and described the claims, raised by young players and their parents, as “scurrilous”, insisting they deserved to be “buried once and for all”.

 

Celtic FC did not respond to a request for comment.

 

O'Merta FC extends its vow of silence; or maybe just continues to keep its powder dry, although its supply of that particular commodity may have been despatched to the 'armed struggle', years ago.