SVT Gävleborg has previously revealed abuses at a school for children with intellectual disabilities. Four former employees testify about punishments: no food, being locked out in the cold and having to “sit in the punishment bench”.
Now there is evidence that staff must have used a life belt to keep one of the children in place.
– These are absolutely not methods that I support in any way, says Kristina Hjertberg, principal of adapted school in Gävle municipality, who claims to have been unaware of the abuses until recently.
– There are seven different primary schools where we have adapted primary schools. It is not where I am on a daily basis, so my main information is via the assistant principal.
Children compared to Hannibal Lecter
In addition to punishments, there are testimonies that the staff spoke derisively of both parents and children. In an audio recording from a workplace meeting, an employee suggests a muzzle similar to the cannibal killer Hannibal Lecter wears in the movie Silence of the Lambs. The deputy headmaster must also have attended the meeting.
The deputy rector has refused to take part in the audio recording from the meeting and the municipality of Gävle has started an investigation to be carried out by an external consultant.
– We follow the investigation and act based on what it comes to, says Kristina Hjertberg.
Isn’t this something you should have heard about?
– Yes, one might think that I should have known about that. But as I said, I have not known about these incidents.
Parents of the students at the school have been informed about the investigation.