Warden case adjourned in Jersey

Haut de la Garenne has been converted into a youth hostel

The case against the first man to be charged in connection with abuse allegations at a Jersey children's home has been adjourned for a month.

Gordon Wateridge, 76, is charged with indecently assaulting three girls under the age of 16.

He formerly worked as a warden at the Haut de la Garenne care home.

Mr Wateridge was released on conditional bail and will appear again at St Helier Magistrates Court on May 12 at 1000 BST.

He is accused of committing the assaults between January 1969 and December 1973 when he was a warden at the home.

The allegations came to light as part of the ongoing investigation into historic abuse on Jersey. The inquiry was launched by Jersey police 18 months ago.

Mr Wateridge, who did not enter a plea, was born in Croydon and lives in the Jersey parish of St Clement. He has also been charged with possessing a firearm without a valid certificate.

Although he worked at Haut de la Garenne, his arrest was unconnected with the discovery of a fragment of a child's skull at the former children's home and the ongoing forensic search there.

Haut de la Garenne closed as a children's home in 1986.