The victim of an evil Daniel gang foster carer has slammed the system that failed her after she was placed in the home of a monster with 26 previous convictions.
The woman, who asked not to be named, was just five when she was sent to stay with Douglas Daniel – brother of notorious drug kingpin Jamie Daniel – and his evil wife Barbara in Parkhead, Glasgow, in 1987.
Daniel, 80, and Barbara, 75, were sentenced for abusing children they looked after earlier this year.
The court heard their horrific crimes included caging kids with birds in an animal pen for hours on end.
View 4 ImagesBarbara and Douglas Daniel at Glasgow Sheriff Court(Image: Spindrift)
The survivor, who is now suing Glasgow City Council for damages, told the Record: “I was failed by the council when they put me there.
“I want them to learn lessons from this. Douglas Daniel wasn’t vetted properly and should never have been allowed to become a foster carer.
“They put children into the hands of a criminal and expected them to be safe and nurtured.
“But the abuse I suffered in that home as impacted me my whole life. “
Recalling her ordeal, she said: “They made me stand on one leg naked in the corner of the room naked and, on some occasions, they’d make me stand outside too.
“I wouldn’t be allowed to change my leg and that would go on for a long period of time.
View 4 ImagesNotorious Jamie Daniel(Image: Reach PLC)
“When I had to go to the loo, they’d make me do the toilet with the door open and I was only allowed to have one sheet of toilet paper.
“They had geese and ducks in their backyard and they had a makeshift cell inside the pen.
“They would put me in there all day and wouldn’t feed me.
“They even got their own child to inflict abuse onto me by getting them to scratch my face until it bled.”
The woman has told how she hopes Daniel and his wife “rot and die in jail”.
She added: “I was relieved when they were jailed and as they were leaving the courtroom, I managed to tell them that I hoped they both rot and die in there.
“Being able to confront them like that, albeit in a calm manner, gave me a bit of closure.
View 4 ImagesThe depraved couple were found guilty of abusing kids in their care(Image: Police Scotland)
“I meant what I said, I do hope they separately die in jail apart from each other.
“For what they’ve done to us and the suffering they have caused, they deserve to rot behind bars.
“They’re monsters.”
The disgraced pensioners, now of Herne Bay in Kent, were caged for 30 months following a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court in March.
They were sentenced after being found guilty of subjecting six children – aged between four and 14 – to cruel and unnatural treatment at their “house of horrors” between 1986 and 1991.
One victim told the trial how she was made to stand with geese who pecked her skin, while another girl was ordered to bathe in a bird bath.
Some kids went hungry under their roof, but one recalled being fed cow tongue intended for pet ferrets by Barbara Daniel.
At least one child was made to sit on the floor alongside pet dogs during mealtimes.
The children were also subjected to violent physical assaults and controlling behaviour.
They were locked in rooms, monitored with alarmed windows, and had their access to the bathroom restricted, including only being allowed one square of toilet paper.
View 4 ImagesSolicitor Laura Connor(Image: Thompsons Solicitors Scotland)
Solicitor Laura Connor of Thompsons Solicitors Scotland, which is representing the survivor, said: “This case is illustrative of many others that will be very similar.
“It’s shocking that so many children were allowed to be placed with this family.
“Surely some form of checks would have highlighted what was going on in the Daniels’ home and in their garden.
“It is unbelievable that so many children were actively placed into that situation.
“The foster parents have been held to account through the criminal justice system for some of the offences – I don’t think all of them – but there is still another form of justice through civil cases.
“At the moment, Glasgow City Council has not yet been held accountable and our role is to make sure that they take responsibility for placing children there after failing to carry out relevant checks about the history of the foster parents and the circumstances the children were living in.
“We want to make sure all survivors receive the compensation they deserve. I imagine there will be many other people out there who have been similarly affected.
“We are always happy to speak to anyone, even anonymously, to give them initial advice and let them know about the circumstances of their situation. Hopefully our client speaking will give others the confidence to do so.”
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A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “We offer our sincere apologies to anyone who experienced abuse while in local authority care. We expect all carers to provide a nurturing and safe environment for children and young people.“We can however provide assurance that practice standards and foster care approval arrangements have significantly improved since the 80s and 90s with far greater oversight and more rigorous assessments in place. These assessments are also subject to internal and external scrutiny.“We are looking into the details which surround this historic case.”
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