'I hid scissors under pillow at horror school - kids were for teachers' sick sex games'

When Zee Weston was sent to a radical school for in care, it was meant to be the fresh start that would turn his life around. Instead, those four years of hell three decades later.

Zee’s eyes fill with tears asat The Red House, a children’s home in Buxton, Norfolk, where he was sent from 1994 to 1998. He is one of 43 people suing Norfolk County Council for the physical, psychological and sexual they allege they suffered there.

He says: “I used to sleep with scissors under my pillow. The abuse I suffered at Red House haunts me to this day.” Zee has waived his right to anonymity as he feels it is important his story is heard. “I ran away many times but I was always forced to go back," he adds. He had been taken into care because of his mother’s . He was born a girl called Zara and was sent to The Red House aged 12. He transitioned and became Zee in his late 30s.

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Zee, now 43, says: “I thought it was a place when I visited, but I was told, ‘This is the only place where you’re going to get an education’. I was acting up and was told it was either there or I’d end up in prison.” Hundreds of children from disadvantaged backgrounds were sent to The Red House in the 1980s and 90s.

It promised to put them back on track through strict rules, tough physical work, and the chance to join in overseas charity work. It was one of two schools run in the UK by the Tvind School Cooperative, a controversial radical group founded in Denmark in the 1960s. The other was The Small School, in East Yorkshire. It charged local authorities up to £4,000 a month for each child.

The group has been embroiled in financial scandals since the 1990s, facing claims over its tax dealings and millions of pounds of charity funds. The Red House is the only one of its schools facing child abuse allegations. Zee says that on most mornings he would wake to the sound of screams from children being tormented – and alleges teachers made older children beat him up on his second night. He claims while there he was strangled by another student, had his arm slammed in a window by a teacher, and

Zee is not the only former student to make such claims. John, 50, from Seaford in East Sussex [not his real name] says between 1990 and 1993. He claims children were “toys for the teachers to play sick games with”. John says: “I was 15 when I went there. The first day I was made to walk around in underwear as I’d turned up in streetwear and they said that my clothes weren’t respectful. When a teacher flashed at me, I threatened to tell my social worker. He said they wouldn’t believe a troubled kid like me. On two other occasions when teachers tried it on with me, reports were made to the police – but nothing ever came of it. I have anxiety and I’ve been diagnosed with parasomnia, as I wake up in random places. All this from being in care and living at The Red House. You never get rid of the baggage.”

The home took in hundreds of children in the 1980s and 90s. Shockingly, claims of abuse and exploitation were first made in 1988, before either John or Zee were sent there. It was finally closed in 1998. Lawyers for ex-residents are horrified no one tried to stop the “unimaginable abuse, torture and neglect”. Daniel Cooper, from Imran Khan & Partners, says: “The abuse of children was horrific and life-changing. [It] was known to those who were responsible for the children’s welfare. But for the courage of those who have now spoken out, it would never have been known to the wider public.”

Zee, of Shepherd’s Bush, West London, says: “As long as we were contained it didn’t matter. The people who were involved in that need to be held accountable. I want an apology.” Recalling his alleged abuse by a teacher, he says: “She seemed approachable and nurturing at first. “One evening she invited me to her flat, where she said I could smoke, and we became sexual from there. It happened almost every day for around a year. At the time, I thought she loved me. It was only when I grew older I realised it was wrong.”

He reported it a decade later, but says it was dropped In 1990, the Social Services Inspectorate warned local authorities against sending children to The Red House, listing allegations by pupils which included sexual impropriety, physical abuse by teachers, and . We have seen a 1994 inspection report from Norfolk County Council, showing they were alerted to sus­­pected abuse involving 20 victims. Despite this, hundreds more students were sent to live at The Red House before it was finally shut down.

Norfolk County Council told us: “The allegations made by former pupils of The Red House are deeply concerning and we have co-operated fully with investigations. “The claims received by us to date relate to 14 children placed there by other local authorities. Our thoughts are with all survivors of abuse but as there is an ongoing legal claim we cannot comment further at this time.”

Dr Raymond Stevenson, of charity Shirley Oaks Survivors Association, which is supporting the victims, says: “The concerning thing was the lack of response from Norfolk Council. They were aware of the abuse. They carried out inspections on the home and ignored the obvious signs of a cult operating in their county.”

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