Nigel Farage and Susanna Reid clash on Good Morning Britain
Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid was met with awkward tension as she interviewed a sexual abuse survivor, Richard Gittins.
He was one of the 130 young boys and men to be abused by John Smyth and joined the ITV programme to discuss the horrific event.
This came after Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby announced his resignation yesterday over his handling of this abuse case.
The Makin Review concluded that John, a prolific abuser associated with the Church of England, might have faced justice had the Archbishop formally alerted authorities in 2013.
Speaking to Richard, Susanna asked: “While being entirely sensitive, I wonder if you can just remind us of the abuse that John Smyth dealt to boys and young men.
“Because in all of the story of the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, we mustn’t lose sight of the actual crimes of the individual who is at the heart of this, John Smyth who is dead and will not face accountability for what he did to you and 130 other boys and young men.”
However, Richard bluntly responded: “So, you want a graphic reminder? Is that what you’re just asking for?
“No,” Susanna interjected as she explained: “I’m asking whether what you can tell us, what you’re prepared to tell us.
“Obviously I’m not asking you to go into graphic detail, but it was shocking abuse.”
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After he chuckled as the presenter spluttered her words out, Richard shared: “Well it happened a long time ago … It happened in my second year at university.”
“It started off as a fairly tame beating if I can say that, to show to myself and to God that I was committed in my life as a Christian.”
Richard detailed: “But over time, they turned into something severe and throughout my second year I would go on a weekly basis down to his house.
“I would be beaten on a three-weekly basis and it probably ended up with about 200 lashings at a time.
“They would cause my bottom to bleed and I would need nappies to stop the blood soaking on to my trousers. That is how bad it got,” he added.
John Smyth, a lay reader who led Christian summer camps, died in 2018 in Cape Town at the age of 77.
He was under investigation by Hampshire Police and was "never brought to justice for the abuse", the review published last week said.
