Victim 'denied medical help' while MP 'fondled' him

An alleged victim of late MP Cyril Smith has described being denied urgent medical attention for a ruptured appendix until the politician had finished "fondling" him.

The man, speaking anonymously, told the national child abuse inquiry that he suffered both physical and sexual abuse when staying at the Cambridge House hostel in Rochdale as a teenager.

He said Smith, who was then a councillor in the town, had a close relationship with some of the managers during his residency in the 1960s, including Edith Saille.

On one occasion, he began suffering from severe abdominal pain and a high temperature - but no doctor turned up despite his request.

He told the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which is examining decades of child protection failings at Rochdale institutions:

He claimed abuse at the hands of the politician began almost as soon as he arrived at Cambridge House, telling the inquiry.

Smith, he said, had close ties to the hostel and organised Christmas parties among other social functions.

The alleged victim arrived at Cambridge House when he was in his mid-teens and is one of a string of former residents to claim Smith abused them as boys.

He said the group were held up at the social gatherings as an example of Smith's benevolence to "poor, unfortunate boys".

He added:

The 29-stone politician was said to have given the man an intrusive medical examination days after his arrival, telling him to take off his underpants and groping his testicles.

A more violent episode followed when he skipped work for the day and went to Manchester with a friend, returning to the hostel to learn that Smith had found out via the warden, the inquiry was told.

Smith never faced prosecution before his death in 2010, despite enduring a political career dogged by police investigations and accusations of sexual abuse.

The alleged victim expressed anger at the amount of time it took for his allegations to come to light.

he said.