Former Great Ormond Street hospital porter charged with child sex offences

AFP via Getty Images
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A former Great Ormond Street Hospital porter has been charged with a series of sex offences against children.

Paul Farrell, 55, of Camden, north London, faces 84 charges including rape, attempted rape, sexual assault of a child under 13 and indecent assault on a male.

The charges relate to seven victims, with the alleged offences committed between 1985 and 2018, police said.

Farrell worked at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in central London from the mid-1980s until his arrest in January, according to the Sun.

Police said he is in custody and will appear at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday for a plea and directions hearing.

He was arrested on January 16 this year and first appeared at Highbury Magistrates' Court after being charged.

An ongoing investigation is being led by officers from the Metropolitan Police's Central North Command Unit safeguarding team.

Great Ormond Street Hospital released a statement on Wednesday "regarding media stories about a former member of staff".

It said: "These are truly awful charges and we know that our hospital community, including our patient families, will have concerns or questions.

"Due to the ongoing legal proceedings, we cannot go into the details of the case, but we can confirm that the individual who has been charged was dismissed from the Trust and we are continuing to work closely with the police.

"Safeguarding children is fundamental to the care we provide and our policies are in line with national best practice.

"If patients, their families or colleagues raise concerns about staff there is a clear and swift process to manage these concerns when they are raised. This includes involving the police where needed." 

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in