§ Mrs. Fennerasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he has found out whether Mary Bell was involved in the taking of improper photographs at Red Bank School, as implied in a British Broadcasting Corporation television programme on 3rd October; and what steps he intends to take.
§ Sir K. JosephI am satisfied that this implication was untrue. I arranged for two senior officials to see the photographs, together with the Director of Social Services, Newcastle. They found no improper photographs. One which seems to have prompted comment in the BBC programme was, in fact, taken in the presence of the child's grandmother. Continuing comment and publicity about this girl is damaging to her and not in the interest of the school and the other children in it, and I should like to make plain my confidence in the school, its managers and its staff.