ARTANE PUPILS 'WERE KILLED'.

The Mirror (London, England), 6 September, 1999

FORMER inmates of the brutal Artane Boys School fear four young boys could have been murdered at the institution.

It is alleged one boy fell to his death off a banister while fleeing from a Christian Brother.

Ex-Artane boy Barney O'Connell claims he saw the young boy pushed over the banister by a member of the order.

Survivors of Child Abuse - the largest organisation representing victims of institution abuse - has called for a major investigation into the disappearance of teenage boys from the "flagship" industrial school.

The campaigners claim the names of some of the boys have been completely wiped off the records of the notorious school.

Former inmates fear the missing boys are lying in unmarked graves somewhere near the school.

Their childhood friends are calling on the government to launch an official investigation into how they vanished without trace.

They are calling for forensic teams to use equipment used in the Fred West house of horrors to detect the whereabouts of missing boys.

SOCA is convinced that bodies are buried under a busy housing estate.

SOCA spokesperson John Kelly said yesterday they were determined to win justice for forgotten victims.

"There are at least four boys that are missing. They vanished from the school and have never been seen since," Mr Kelly said.

"We want to stop the cover-up. We're looking for all the records to be handed over to us straight away."

Mr Kelly said they informed Judge Mary Laffoy who is heading the government "truth commission" on child abuse, about the missing boys.

"These were orphans and children from fractured families they had nobody to stick up for them," Mr Kelly said

"We will co-operate with the commission only if there is a guarantee that alleged perpetrators will not be granted immunity from prosecution.

"We need to be able to look at the records. They have always been reluctant to hand them over and there must be a reason for this."

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