A MAN who was once the superintendent at Haut de la Garenne and has been accused of raping his foster daughter was a ‘very professional’ employee, according to one of his former colleagues.

Anne Rey, a Bournemouth town councillor, worked with Colin Tillbrook for Dorset County Council’s social services department after he left Jersey in the early 1970s.

Mr Tillbrook, who died 20 years ago, ran the St Martin children’s home throughout the 1960s.

It is thought that part of his role in Dorset was to inspect care homes for the elderly and children.

In an interview in Saturday’s JEP, Mr Tillbrook’s foster daughter, Tina Blee, said that he had repeatedly raped her at their Dorset home when she was aged between ten and 13.

Mrs Rey said: ‘I found him very professional. He was always seen as a down-to-earth sort of guy. I couldn’t believe it when I read about this in the papers. ‘I didn’t know he had worked in Jersey. I don’t remember him talking about the past.’