Abused by her police officer foster father from the age of six, Marina Narayan has fought for justice over five decades.
But, until now, an unjust rule known as the time bar, which places a three-year-limit for victims to bring personal injury claims, has protected her abuser and the institutions who failed her. Now, the government has announced it will remove this limit as it delivers on long-delayed recommendations from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA).
It is opening the door to justice for thousands of long-denied survivors, from Lambeth to Rotherham. “I feel very emotional hearing this news,” Marina, 59, says. “I’ve kept fighting for these changes in the law and the government has listened.
“That gives me hope that my life can one day move on and be about my family, my grandchildren, rather than fighting for justice. And I am thinking of all those thousands of people who will now have a route to justice.”
Marina and other survivors spearheaded a two-year campaign by the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association (SOSA), which represents survivors of the most extensive child abuse scandal in UK history.
IICSA, led by Professor Alexis Jay, concluded hundreds of vulnerable children in the care of Lambeth Council in South London were subjected to horrendous cruelty and sexual abuse over decades on a scale “hard to comprehend”.
Marina wants the Met to admit their failure to prosecute her abuser, Detective Sergeant John Hudson, then a member of the Vice Squad, allowed her abuse to continue. Other survivors say they have been blocked by the time bar rule from bringing civil claims against the institutions who failed them – including the Metropolitan Police, council and social services.
“The Metropolitan Police relied on the time-bar loophole to protect officers who had sexually abused our members or covered it up for theirassociates,” says SOSA’s RaymondStevenson.
“It was our brave members – who are child abuse survivors from the Lambeth care system who waived their right to anonymity to speak out for justice – highlighting the police reliance on the time bar to deny justice through civil actions in the courts.
“The impact of their bravery will enable tens of thousands of victims nationwide to finally get justice and parity with a law that has been in place in Scotland for many years.
“We applaud the announcement by the Ministry of Justice that important recommendations from IICSA will now be implemented, including the lifting of the three-year limitation on victims.”
Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood said: “Child sexual abuse causes lifelong trauma and these important changes, recommended by Professor Jay, are long overdue. These measures help survivors pursue their path to justice. They build on the Government’s mission of halving violence against women and girls and support our Plan for Change.”
Husna Banoo was sexually abused in Shirley Oaks children’s home – the place where Marina believes she may have been groomed from the nursery. She believes the police helped cover her abuse up.
Following SOSA’s investigation, Lambeth Council was forced to pay compensation but the police argued Husna’s case against them was time-barred.
“For years the police have got away with covering up their involvement in my abuse,” Husna says. “Now, there is a path to justice.”
SOSA says the change in the law is a victory not just for survivors of the Shirley Oaks abuse scandal but for all those they represent – including young people in the care of other children’s homes such as Melting Pot in Brixton and Sandyridge in Kent.
Amanda Spillett, a survivor of the Sandyridge children’s home, was also denied justice by the time bar. “The tireless campaign for justice over the last 10 years by Raymond Stevenson and Lucia Hinton at SOSA should have been recognised like MrBates’ work was for the Post Office,” she says. “They have changed people’s lives and changed the law for all victims.”
Rose Doherty was also sexually abused at Sandyridge. “We were refused compensation under the Lambeth Redress scheme then the police said our case was time-barred,” she says. “If it wasn’t for Raymond and Lucia lobbying for the change of law to lift the three-year limitation, the perpetrators and those who covered it up would have got away it.”
DS John Hudson abused Marina from the age of six, after he and his wife, June, fostered her as a baby in 1966. But, while June Hudson was later found guilty of perverting the course of justice in covering up abuse at the family home, her policeman husband had already died. A legal claim for damages brought in February 2024 was denied on the grounds that the abuse took place too long ago.
Marina says she has instructed her solicitor, human rights lawyer Imran Khan KC, to look at bringing a case as soon as the changes are made law. The Ministry of Justice says the bill will remove “the burden of proof that currently rests on victims’ shoulders”, and Marina hopes this change may help other survivors come forward.
“If survivors have not spoken about their abuse yet, it might encourage them, now that they will be more supported and believed,” she says. “They won’t need to jump through all the hoops I jumped through.”
A Met spokesperson said: “We have been engaged with the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association in relation to a number of concerns raised around historic child abuse and the Met’s involvement in that investigation.
“A report sent by SOSA to the Met was reviewed and a public complaint recorded. We referred this to the IOPC, who did not find it met the threshold for an independent investigation. We understand what the victims have been through and will continue to respond to any inquiries from their representatives.”
For Raymond and Lucia at SOSA, the changes could also mark the end of a long road, which began over a decade ago in 2014, when they took statements from 2,000 survivors – identifying 300 alleged paedophiles, and ultimately forcing Lambeth Council to set up a redress scheme.
“The time limit for victims of sexual abuse has deprived so many of justice and compensation – it should be a source of great shame and embarrassment that the previous Conservative government did not immediately change the law,” says Imran Khan KC.
“It is only because of the determination and incredible hard work done by SOSA and their clients that this Labour government has been forced to remove the limitation to bring claims for sexual abuse.”
The Ministry of Justice says the change in the law will be presented as part of a new Justice Bill in the coming months. Marina says she will be ready. “I’ll keep going with this fight right to the end,” she says. “This has literally been a life-long battle. I’m not going to give up now.”
