A foster carer who was convicted of abusing children in a “house of horrors” was allowed to start looking after young people despite a lengthy criminal record, the BBC can reveal.
Douglas Daniel had 26 convictions – including for housebreaking and car theft – when he and his wife Barbara began fostering children in 1986.
One of the couple’s victims also told the BBC that she reported the abuse to social workers 27 years ago.
A Glasgow City Council spokesperson said it was investigating that complaint and what it knew about Daniel’s criminal history, and that the process of approving foster carers had “significantly improved”.
Earlier this week Douglas and Barbara Daniel, who are now aged 80 and 75, were found guilty of cruel and unnatural treatment of six youngsters in their care between 1986 and 1991.
Their victims included Lynn, whose name we have changed to protect her identity.
She was seven years old when she was sent to live with the Daniels at their home in the Parkhead area of Glasgow in 1991.
The mother, now 42, gave evidence during the trial and described her four-month ordeal living with the Daniels.
“They had a makeshift cell at the back of another room, where they basically barricaded you in,” she told the BBC.
“Barbara also used to put me in the bird pen with the geese.
“They used to make me stand on one leg naked in the corner of the living room… They would be sitting eating their dinner as if it was normal.”
She continued: “I think they are just twisted… There is no valid reason to say, ‘You deserved it, you were misbehaving.’
“I don’t know why they would do it. It’s just wild.”
She added: “I definitely think that, if that hadn’t have happened, my life would be very different.”
Douglas and Barbara Daniel were found guilty of six charges after a trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court.
The offences committed between 1986 and 1991 included verbal abuse, assaults, locking children in rooms and putting children in animal pens.
The couple – who claimed to have fostered a total of 100 children – forced a four-year-old girl into a chicken coop, ordered one to bathe in a bird bath and made another eat a cow tongue meant for a pet ferret.
Sheriff Louise Arrol KC commended the bravery of the victims and likened the Daniels’ home to a “house of horrors”.
Addressing Douglas Daniel, she added: “Remarkably given your record of dishonesty, you were trusted with children.
“Your past has caught up with you.”
The retired mechanic now lives in Kent, but in the 1980s and 1990s his now-demolished home in Glasgow doubled as his motor repair business.
He lived there with his wife and children, alongside animals including chickens, ducks, geese, dogs and ferrets.
Daniel was no stranger to the courts and had spent time in prison before he had become a foster carer.
The BBC has uncovered a list of previous convictions for Daniel – who, according to court documents, also used the alias Douglas Duncan.
He was convicted in Scottish courts of multiple crimes of dishonesty – including theft, housebreaking, handling stolen goods and car theft – between 1965 and 1978, as well as one count of burglary in Northampton in 1972.
His final conviction before he became a foster carer was theft from a lockfast place in 1978 – eight years before he began fostering.
After the couple stopped fostering and moved to England, he was jailed for four years for an offence under the Customs and Excise Management Act in 2003.
Documents also state Maidstone Crown Court ordered the confiscation of £100,000 from the then-58-year-old.
Lynn said: “I think for a child – not just a child, a vulnerable child – to be put in the care of someone with a large number of charges, is a severe failure of social work at that point in time.”
![A scan of a letter - most of which is blurred and redacted. The visible text reads: "As you may remember, this team believes [redacted] suffered abuse while placed with the foster carers, the Daniels family in Parkhead. [redacted] now wishes to make a formal complaint about this... I would be grateful for advice about how and who investigates this complaint. Is it done solely by the team of jointly with Families for Children or by Centre?"](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/standard/976/cpsprodpb/7117/live/656eef20-fc69-11f0-a7b3-13a56b7a31f4.jpg.webp)
A letter between social work staff revealed the council were aware of abuse allegations made by ‘Lynn’ in February 1999.
Another document seen by the BBC revealed Glasgow City Council’s social work department knew of allegations against the Daniels in 1999.
A letter written by a senior social worker references complaints made by Lynn when she was 15 and still in the care of the council.
It reads: “As you may remember, this team believes [Lynn] suffered abuse while placed with the foster carers, the Daniels family in Parkhead.
“[Lynn] now wishes to make a formal complaint about this.”
It is not clear what action was taken by council staff.
When asked what the outcome of her complaint had been, Lynn said: “Nothing… Nothing at all.”
‘Greater oversight’
Glasgow City Council said it was looking into Lynn’s 1999 complaint and investigating what it knew about Daniel’s criminal history.
A spokeswoman said: “Whilst we offer our sincere sympathy to anyone who experienced abuse while in local authority care, we can provide assurance that practice standards and foster care approval arrangements have significantly improved with greater oversight and more rigorous assessments in place.
“We will consider the detail which surrounds this historic case noting the specific concerns which have been highlighted in considering our next steps.”
Source: bbc.co.uk
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