'Sadistic' prison officer who took pleasure in abuse of young boys jailed

• Victims of Patrick Devaney speak to ITV News reporter Rob Murphy

A "sadistic" prison officer who abused boys at a youth detention centre has been jailed for three years.

Patrick Devaney assaulted 22 teenagers while he was working in the gym at Eastwood Park Young Offenders Institute in South Gloucestershire, between 1970 and 1983.

He would kick and hit young boys, even using weapons including a cricket bat and a 5ft paddle. He racially abused black teenagers and set up a game so violent it was called 'murderball'.

As he was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Friday 15 September, the 81-year-old was described as a cruel man who derived "sadistic pleasure" from routinely abusing young boys.

Devaney, of County Down in Northern Ireland, has now been jailed for three and a half years after a jury convicted him of misconduct in a public office earlier this year.

Paul Brealey, Alan Andrews and Ieuan Andrews were victims of Devaney after being sent to Eastwood Park as teenagers.

They met for the first time only to talk to ITV News, having been at Eastwood Park at different times. Despite this, their experiences have chilling similarities.

Paul Brealey, from Devon, was 14 when he went to the unit in May 1969. He says the events that transpired left him traumatised.

"As soon as you walked in the door you knew you'd entered the gates of something because it was just a huge shock to the system," he said.

"You were screamed at, shouted at, pushed, prodded. We were made to strip naked... (at) 14 years old.

He added: "He would physically attack you with medicine balls - drop medicine balls on you when you were doing sit-ups. He had a bat he used to hit you with."

Paul suffered years of alcoholism, which he blames on his time at Eastwood Park, but he has since turned his life around and set up several flourishing businesses.

'A switch went off inside of me'

Alan Andrews, from Wales, was 14 years old when he went to the detention centre in 1977.

He said the abuse made him "shut down".

Alan said: "He used to cut electric flex. There was a thick electric flex that was mentioned in the trial and he used to get you to hold monkey bars and he would smack you on the backside with that."

"It just traumatised me," he added. "I was a child, a switch went off inside of me.

"There was a couple of events in the detention centre which lasted for another 16 years where a switch went and said 'no-one is seeing Alan again'."

Despite this, Alan told ITV News: "I don't have any angry thoughts, vicious thoughts, vengeance thoughts - I just felt sorry for the other boys.

"My life is based on 'I forgive the guy'. That doesn't forgive him, but it empties it out of my head."

'A complete psychopath'

Ieuan Llewellyn, from Bournemouth, spent six weeks at the South Gloucestershire institution in 1976 and says he is still haunted by the memory.

"Devaney was a complete psychopath, a sadist and got pleasure in humiliating young kids," he said.

"I've only got flashbacks of when he punched me - but I've seen terrible things."

The attacks by Devaney happened during the time of the Government policy of a "short, sharp, shock" to discourage reoffending. The trial heard Devaney - who denied the charges - took this policy "to its most extreme form".

During mitigation, Devaney's barrister said he had performed lots of charity work in recent years and would play music at old people's homes. He argued Devaney presented no risk of reoffending.

During the sentencing, Judge Edward Burgess described Devaney as a "cruel man" who "derived sadistic pleasure" from routinely abusing the boys he was responsible for.

Speaking directly to Devaney, he said: "You were the worst kind of brute.

"You regularly assaulted boys by beating them and kicking them and using weapons. The most fearsome was a paddle measuring five feet and a cricket bat called a sixer."

Judge Edward Burgess described the victims personal statements about Devaney's abuse as upsetting, chilling and moving.

He added: "I am conscious of these grown men that as boys they suffered terrible anguish in their stays at Eastwood Park.

"It is clear to me and seeing you in court, you do not believe that you did anything wrong."

Speaking upon conviction earlier this year, Avon and Somerset Police Detective Inspector Alan Smith, the senior investigating officer in the case, said Devaney exploited his position to assault people he was supposed to keep safe.

He said: “He worked for the prison service at a time when there was a government policy of giving young offenders a ‘short, sharp shock’ by way of punishment.

“The force he used however went way beyond what was appropriate and acceptable, with many of his victims describing him as sadistic and someone who enjoyed inflicting pain on them.

“He admitted to giving the boys a clip around the ears and raps on the knuckles but vehemently denied abusing them in the way he did.”

He added: “Every one of his victims has been affected by his actions with some suffering significant trauma which they have lived with for more than 50 years.

“I’d like to praise the courage they have all shown in reporting what happened to them and giving testimony in front of him at court.

“I hope this outcome gives other victims of abuse the confidence to come forward. Even if offences have been committed years ago, we can and will investigate them thoroughly.”

Eastwood Park closed as a detention centre and is now a women's prison.