arge later that day. Eight others, including Ian, and a 75-year-old grandmother, were charged with sexual offences against children over a period of six years between 1995 and 2001.
The charges were said to involve three girls under 16 who had been in the care of the Western Isles social services department. It is understood that the investigation began after one of the girls said something to a carer that caused her concern. This was relayed to a social worker and, over several months, allegations of abuse followed.
The arrests, in what police code-named Operation Haven, soon made headlines on local and national radio, television and newspapers. The more lurid referred to a “child sex abuse network” and a suspected “paedophile ring”.
All eight accused denied the charges and a trial was expected soon after. But two weeks ago, on Friday July 2, the case suddenly collapsed. In a statement, Northern Constabulary said the Scottish Crown Office had instructed that no proceedings would be taken. The Crown Office confirmed that all charges had been dropped. No explanation was given.
The next day, determined to clear her husband’s name, Penny Campbell wrote a long and impassioned statement which she emailed to the press. In it she revealed publicly, for the first time, the bizarre nature of the allegations that Ian and the others had faced – Satanic ritual child abuse.
Transcripts of police interviews, seen by the Guardian, reveal that those charged were accused of being devil worshippers, of raping and sexually abusing children in black magic rituals and wife-swapping orgies during which they dressed in ceremonial robes and masks, sacrificed animals and drank their blood.
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