Police ‘overreacted’ with arrest of child care couple

Wednesday 24th November 2010, 2:57PM GMT.

Anthony and Morag Jordan arriving at the Royal Court. Picture: Ben Birchall/PA Wire

JERSEY police ‘overreacted’ when dealing with a couple accused of assaulting children at Haut de la Garenne in the 1970s and 80s, a jury heard yesterday.

Morag and Anthony Jordan, both 62, spent the night in a Scottish cell earlier this year before they were flown to Jersey and charged with a catalogue of abuse on 11 children in their care.

On the sixth day of the Assize trial yesterday, the jury heard that the national media descended on the couple’s home in Kirriemuir – a Scottish town of 10,000 people – days after Haut de la Garenne hit the world’s headlines following allegations of murders and torture.

It was not until two years later that Jersey police flew to Scotland to arrest Mr and Mrs Jordan, who face 48 counts of assault on children as young as two. The jury have been directed to return not guilty verdicts on seven of the charges.

• Full report in today’s JEP

Read the full story in the Jersey Evening Post. Click here for subscription details. Individual editions are also available online.