Chris Wild, a victim of abuse at Skircoat Lodge, says he is determined to push for a public inquiry
Chris Wild was housed at Skircoat Lodge in 1991, at the age of 11 (Image: Chris Wild / Wets Yorkshire Police )
Tucked away inside one of the dorm rooms at Skircoat Lodge, Halifax, 11-year-old Chris Wild peeks out from under the covers of his bed. His breath is hot as he looks for his roommates, but he can’t see them in bed.
It won’t be until Chris is almost 40 that he will piece together his childhood; That boys – and girls- were led from their rooms to be assaulted in the “most horrific of ways” by the director of the children’s home, and how some would later go on to take their own lives because of the abuse they silently endured.
For Chris, now aged 46, returning to write about his childhood was the “floodgate” that led him to rediscover the severity of the abuse at Skircoat Lodge children’s home – spearheading a movement to prevent the same type of horrific cruelty from ever happening again.
Known as “The Care Leaver Activist,” Chris Wild decided to write ‘Damaged’ in 2018: A collection of “heartbreaking” stories of kids trapped in “Britain’s Broken Care System”. He later wrote ‘The State of It’ in 2021: a “searing exposé” of life in and around the children’s care system in the early 1990s. The hope was that authoring such stories would “shed a light” on a grim reality within the UK.
Returning to Skircoat Lodge in Halifax – the unit that housed him – to research for the story, Chris explained that all of the memories he had “blacked out” came rushing back.
Speaking to other care-leavers from Skircoat Lodge made him realise that he was, in fact, talking to survivors of “systemic abuse” at the hands of “ringleader” Director Malcolm Phillips and assistant Linda Brunning.
Chris said: “I was 11 years old when I went to stay at the lodge. After my dad died in April 1991, I was acting like a bit of a delinquent, so I was offered respite in October that year.
“I remember meeting Phillips for the first time; my social worker took me there, and honestly, it was all very perfect. I remember meeting the pair of them, and they were very welcoming.
“Phillips, in particular, was very memorable. In fact, everyone I spoke to while writing my book said the same thing. He was very stern but also very charismatic, and it was also clear he was a very intelligent man. You felt safe in that respect because you thought, ‘This is a man of grandeur who is going to take care of me’.
“Going to this place was initially an escapism from witnessing violence and my mum being drunk.”
Yet, as Chris continued researching for his book, he began to remember more and more details from his childhood. Upon memories being triggered, Chris began to remember that Phillips had a “horrific” violent streak.
Chris said: “For a time, I thought I was making it up. Memories are still vague, but I remember being beaten up by Brunning and physically assaulted by Phillips about silly things – one time it was because I made a quip about buttering bread.”
When the book was published, Chris said that he was “inundated” with messages from survivors of similar abuse. Piecing together information from what he was being told by other victims, Chris realised the horrifying truth about the extent of the duo’s use of children for “sexual gratification”.
Chris said: “I would be in bed and look over to see that my dormmates were missing. It’s those details you don’t consider when you are a child, but as an adult, I now know that they were likely being assaulted. There have since been a couple of lads who have taken their own lives – in that way, we will never really know the true extent of their abuse.
In February 2026, it was revealed that Phillips, now 93, carried out the abuse against four girls and two boys at Skircoat Lodge in Halifax between 1976 and 1994. He was deemed unfit to stand trial and a trial of facts was held at Bradford Crown Court on charges of rape, indecent assault and indecency with a child.
Brunning, now 66, was also found guilty of indecent assault against one boy and helping Phillips abuse another boy in the 1980s and 1990s. Brunning is due to face a “substantial” jail term, with sentencing scheduled for April this year.
Chris said he often thinks about who was “chosen” and why he was never selected. Chris said: “In all honesty, I think both of them thought I was more of a liability. The way they picked children was by seeking those deemed easy pickings. I wasn’t ‘easy’ because of my behaviour, and also because my grandmother, who was devoutly religious, would visit often. It’s in my dreams and my nightmares about why they didn’t risk choosing me.”
Following the publication of his book and the result of the much-awaited trial, Chris said he is determined to push for a public inquiry.
Chris said: “The whole reason I was prompted to write my book in the first place was that nothing has changed. I didn’t know how big the movement would be, but I see now how big the issue is and how systemic the abuse has been. Think about it – the title of ‘Director’ is the biggest job you can have, and that means Phillips – a prolific paedophile – could cherry-pick other abusers like Brunning to work at the Lodge.
“There needs to be a public inquiry into the unit and other similar lodgings that were purpose – built to abuse children. Who knows how many paedophiles had ‘unfettered’ access to children living in other facilities like Skircoat Lodge?”
Chris said he hopes that the public inquiry would then prompt a nationwide movement into the treatment of children at care homes.
Chris said: “Justice isn’t served because Brunning is going to jail, or that the world is seeing Phillips for who he really is. We cannot only focus on this pair as if jailing them will stop all future assaults. A disproportionate amount of sexual abuse is happening in care homes as we speak, and we can’t just be focusing on Phillips – historically or otherwise – to change that.
“There needs to be a public inquiry. I am one of the lucky ones. If I had been sexually abused all those years ago, I might have been unable to tell my story.”
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