Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Does anyone know if Robert Sillett MBE has made any public comment since being described in court as failing in his safeguarding duties in respect of the Karim case. He has an active social media presence, his two adult children and himself often comment on OB matters, and ones assumes he continues in his multiple masonic and charitable activities. Yet he seems to have gone quiet. Any idea why?
Roger Sillett MBE,

Read more at: https://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/news/bi ... -1-5782067

I imagine the school has told him to stay quiet, especially if there is legal action pending.

There is no sign of any comment to date.

LHA wrote: ↑Sun Jul 22, 2018 9:47 amAny idea why?

He's in possession of functioning self-preservation instincts?

If I were still a gambling man, I'd put money on this silence from the former SMT as the calm before the storm when they start shouting all at once until one of them gets thrown under the bus for the whole affair. Still haven't got a firm favourite for the sacrificial lamb though. At first I thought it'd be Cairncross (since it was news to me that we had a designated child protection officer at the time) with her rendition of the classic "I don't recall" until she slipped a hospital pass to Poulton with "staff management issues were his sole domain", but then the press went with Sillett's ominous "your name will get out" which threw my calculations right off.
Speaking as a cynic, I'm expecting their original "we can't find the paperwork" to find new life as the remixed "on closer inspection of my records at the time, I found this memo (which had been misfiled)". It'll be an absolute banger of a collab, but I wouldn't rule out a solo release.

One wonders what records were kept anyway. The school wanted to close its eyes to what happened, so why write it down?

Bureaucratic tradition and an awareness of where you actually stood in the hierarchy?
Besides, at the time they were convinced they were handling things the correct way, so why wouldn't they keep a small note of it somewhere? Plenty of published books are basically someones personal and incredibly (and surprisingly) detailed journal of a time/event where minimal formal records can be found. Their generation (and class) still practised and valued letter writing and journaling, even in the 90's.
Speaking again as a cynic, you rarely reach those positions without a sense of what a future "get out of jail free card" looks like and when it's a good time to "misfile" a document.

My opinion is, that IF any written record was made at the time, now that convictions have been made and sentences handed down, that a disappearing trick of Magic Circle proportions will have occured.

It's amazing how many "misfiled" documents appear to lack authenticity. Just talking generally.

It's equally amazing how much more thoroughly you search your personal archives when trying to avoid being dropped deep in the brown stuff. I've had paperwork go missing for ages and only when getting the official final notice which promised large fines/deportation/expulsion/etc did I tear the place apart to find it stuck between drawers of a filing cabinet.

On a sort of connected theme, Bob Sillett's daughter Tanya was a senior Police Officer from Surrey who was imprisoned for fraud. I recall her teaching French at CH for a brief period, so she joins the list of ex CH staff who have been ended up prison, although it should be stressed her crimes were obviously nothing to do with abuse.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-27291329

I wish her well with her rehabilitation

LHA wrote: ↑Sun Jul 29, 2018 8:26 am On a sort of connected theme, Bob Sillett's daughter Tanya was a senior Police Officer from Surrey who was imprisoned for fraud. I recall her teaching French at CH for a brief period, so she joins the list of ex CH staff who have been ended up prison, although it should be stressed her crimes were obviously nothing to do with abuse.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-27291329

I wish her well with her rehabilitation

I remember it well, but decided not to mention it. Bad apples in the barrel, and all that.

It's a courtesy I suppose, but all in the public domain. Possibly given she was the daughter of a member of the SMT she didn't go though a full competitive application process to teach at the school, but maybe she did.

As an aside, does anyone know what he got the MBE for?

I am getting more and more angry about the excuses for giving MBEs after reading the reasons why one man got an MBE. Apparently he stayed in a factory which was under consistent high explosive and incendiary bombing for five hours and is credited with saving a number of lives - only two died. It took him 9 years to die from the effects of that night. Any medal was initially refused but eventually they gave him an MBE.

I could offer a possible explanation of 'MBE' in this case, but as a Moderator.......

... I'd be accused of being flippant and irresponsible.

sejintenej wrote: ↑Sun Jul 29, 2018 12:21 pm As an aside, does anyone know what he got the MBE for

Third on the list...
https://www.freemasonrytoday.com/more-n ... %20Sillett