Nun 'wicked' says ex-resident

Sister Alphonso denies all the charges

A woman has described as "wicked" a nun who denies causing cruelty to former residents at two children's homes in Scotland.

Louise Clark was giving evidence in the trial of Marie Docherty, known as Sister Alphonso, at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.

Miss Clark, 32, said Sister Alphonso was in charge of her group between 1976 and 1979 at the Nazareth House home in Lasswade run by the Poor Sisters of Nazareth.

She told the court she had a bed-wetting problem as a child.

The charges

Marie Docherty faces 23 charges, all of which are denied

The charges date from 1965 to 1980

They include - forcing girls to kiss dead nuns

Punching, slapping and kicking girls

Forcing girls to wear soiled underwear

The trial is expected to last up to six weeks

She said Sister Alphonso would thump her with her knuckles on the side of the head when she wet the bed and then send her to the laundry to handwash her sheets.

She said this made her problem worse.

When asked by depute-fiscal Anne Macdonald how she looked upon Sister Alphonso, Miss Clark replied: "Wicked. I was scared of her. It was her eyes."

She went on to tell the court that once, when she had not gone to church on Sunday, the nun had kept urging her and then dragged her upstairs by the ear.

Miss Clark recalled another occasion when she fell out with another girl and swore. She said Sister Alphonso took both of them to the changing room.

The nun kept hitting their heads on the changing room lockers before forcing soap into their mouths.

Nazareth House in Aberdeen

She admitted having a previous conviction for dishonesty as well as lodging claims for compensation regarding her time at Nazareth House.

She said she was telling the truth and was not giving evidence to make money.

Jane McGhee, who was in care at the Lasswade Nazareth House, told the court that, on one occasion, Sister Alphonso punched her on the face for lending her school tie to someone else.

Ms McGhee, 32, said that when her schoolteacher asked what had happened to cause the bruising on her cheek, she told him.

When she returned to Nazareth House, however, members of staff then forced her to tell her teacher it was a lie.

The trial was adjourned until Monday after Sister Alphonso became unwell during evidence and had to be helped from the dock.