Ex-teacher arrested in Malta denies child sex crimes
The former deputy principal of a private children’s care home was a predatory paedophile who had a continuing interest in young boys, a court heard.
Bryan Davies, 71, has been charged with sexual offences against 11 boys in his charge back in the 1970s.
Davies denies a total of 38 charges, 29 of which were alleged to have happened at Ystrad Hall and an annex named Eirianfa at Llangollen, which was run by a private organisation named Care Concern, a jury at Mold Crown Court was told.
Prosecuting barrister David Spens QC said that after being arrested, when Davies denied the offences, he failed to answer bail and fled the country in 2014.
“It appears that he fled to Malta, the island of Gozo, where he was eventually traced by the police and arrested three-and-a-half years later on August 2 last year,” he said.
Davies had then been charged with further offences relating to making indecent photographs of children between 2007 and 2013, and inciting children over the internet to indulge in sexual acts dating back to 2011 and 2012. Opening the case, the prosecutor said that Davies held the position of deputy principal officer for two years, up to May 1978.
The complainants were residents of Eirianfa, which was an unit for the younger boys aged up to 16 and had between 25 and 30 boys who had been placed in care by various local authorities.
In 2013, an investigation was ordered by the Government, which was concerned that previous investigations had not been thorough and rigorous, said Mr Spens.
That investigation was carried out by the National Crime Agency. The defendant of West Redhill, Surrey – who lived at Stryd Isa in Penycae during the 1970s – denies all charges.
In a defence opening speech, barrister Tina Griffiths QC urged the jury to keep an open mind.
“Make no mistake about it, you will not like Mr Davies. In fact you will not like him at all,” she said.
The case before Judge Huw Rees is proceeding and is listed for five or six weeks.
