Nun rejects ‘hard as nails’ evidence given at child abuse inquiry

The woman, now in her mid-70s, denied being someone that youngsters would have been scared of.

She agreed there was “probably” a strict regime at Nazareth House in Aberdeen but told a probe she had not witnessed any abusive practices at the orphanage.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), sitting in Edinburgh, is continuing its examination of four former children’s homes operated by the Catholic congregation the Sisters of Nazareth in Scotland.

The inquiry has previously been told of various alleged abuses at the institutions.

The witness, who cannot be identified, said she worked at its homes in Aberdeen and Lasswade, Midlothian, from the late 1960s to the mid 1970s.

Senior counsel to the inquiry Colin MacAulay QC told the nun about evidence from another witness who described her as the children’s “mother” at the Aberdeen home, tasked with looking after them and controlling them.

“She was hard as nails and we were scared of her but at times she was alright,” the man said in a statement read by the QC.

Asked if she agreed with that assessment, the sister replied: “Not really.”

“Did you get an impression that children might have been scared of you?” Mr MacAulay continued.

“No,” the nun answered.

The inquiry heard how the man had recalled a time when he dropped a Bible and “got a skelping”, adding the nun “had a terrible temper on her”.

“Do you think you had a temper?”…