Victim condemns Hodge's 'malice'

Demetrious Panton intends to sue if further requests are not met

A child abuse victim has described children's minister Margaret Hodge's comments about him as "pure malice".

Mrs Hodge apologised on Friday for describing Demetrious Panton as "extremely disturbed".

But Mr Panton said she had yet to give a reason for her remarks in a letter to the BBC about a child abuse scandal in Islington, London.

Mr Panton has set a deadline of Monday for her to explain and meet further requests or he will sue.

Mrs Hodge has already apologised "unreservedly" in a letter to Mr Panton and promised never to repeat the slur.

She is also believed to be making a donation - of about £10,000 - to a children's charity of his choice.

But Mr Panton wants her to explain her comments or resign.

I know you suffered appalling abuse in the 1970s Margaret Hodge apology Full text of Margaret Hodge's letter Profile: Margaret Hodge

At first he assumed someone from social services had told Mrs Hodge he was "extremely disturbed", he said.

Now it has emerged that was not the case, Mr Panton told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"It seems Mrs Hodge described myself as extremely disturbed simply out of malice," he said.

"Legally, by issuing an apology and making an undertaking not to repeat that, you satisfy yourself within the legal context of our society.

"But there is a moral context in our society and that makes it clear that you do not malice an individual who has already been through such a traumatic experience," he said.

"If she can't provide a satisfactory explanation as to why she described me as an extremely disturbed person then I am left with no alternative but to think that she did so out of pure malice."

Islington scandal

Mrs Hodge led Islington Council from 1982 to 1992, when it emerged that children in the council's care had been abused.

The minister said she knew Mr Panton had "suffered appalling abuse" in the 1970s and would rightly feel "angry and let down after so many years of being disbelieved".

She had never sought to "belittle or invalidate" the experiences of sex abuse victims, she said.

While Mr Panton welcomed the apology, he suggested it may have more to do with "legal and political expediency".

Mrs Hodge's "extremely disturbed" comments came in a letter to BBC chairman Gavyn Davies, read out on Radio 4's Today programme.

Mrs Hodge said the letter was never meant to be published.

A Downing Street spokesman dismissed speculation she would be sacked by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"He appointed Margaret Hodge to this job. The fact that she continues to do that job, and will continue to do that job at the end of today, I think indicates the prime minister's confidence in her ability."