A RAPE survivor who was molested as a child is calling for justice for victims of historic abuse at Quarriers.

Sandy Smith, 67, is demanding a change in the law to help bring abusers before court.

He was molested after being taken into the orphanage aged just five and more than 50 years later he says he is still living with the “hell every day”.

At present, only those who were targeted in or after 1964 can pursue damages in the civil court.

Sandy wants to open this up to all survivors and has raised a petition he wants to put before parliament.

READ MORE: Abused children not protected from those they knew

Sandy, who is originally from Kilmacolm and now lives in Bridge of Weir, said: “I still wake up at night screaming with the nightmares and these thoughts.

“This would bring an end to the hell we are having to live every day.

“I have lost count of the amount of times I have tried to commit suicide.

“I don’t want to see anyone else suffer and not get the justice they deserve.”

Sandy has been fighting for justice for victims of abuse at Quarriers for a number of years, setting up an online page for survivors to share their stories.

It was on the site where he met Jayne Taylor-Savery who was also a resident at the home and Sandy’s childhood sweetheart.

The pair reunited after almost five decades apart and now work closely with abuse survivors who are going through a similar plight to them.

It was with Jayne and two other victims on a visit to Quarriers Cottage - the name given to homes which housed boys and girls - where Sandy first revealed the horrific abuse he had suffered.

Sandy said: “When the four of us were there, one of the girls went around the cottage but didn’t come back. When I found her, she was looking into the window of the cottage and said to me ‘I am just thinking about all the times I was in there and I just wanted someone to help me’.

“She then told me she had been abused and said she knew it must have happened to me.

“It was then I told her, the first time I had told anyone, and also found out what had happened to Jayne.

“We went to Quarriers to collect our records but I was told that they didn’t keep records from my time.

“But they had records from Jayne and it turned out they had actually been destroyed.

“Just how many adults who were at Quarries have records which have gone missing?”

Sandy - who waived his right to anonymity - revealed the gruesome details of his abuse when speaking before the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry set up to investigate molestation in institutions across the country.

He continued: “All we are trying to do is get justice for children who suffered abuse at Quarriers.

READ MORE: Quarriers 'sorry' over historic abuse at orphanage

“But due to some law we can’t. If we had murdered the people who abused us then we would still be held accountable. But the people who abused us are not.

“I was forced into using the name Troy but why should I be ashamed of my name or what has happened to me?

“This may well be the final battle I fight in my life.”

He has raised a petition calling for a legislation change in relation to the prosecution of historic abuse.

Sandy added: “It only takes a few seconds to sign but it can change someone’s life forever.”

Sign Sandy's petition here. 

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