AN ELDERLY couple who carried out horrific historical abuse towards six of their foster children have been jailed for a total of 60 months.
Douglas Daniel, 77, and Barbara Daniel, 76, tormented the kids -aged between four and 14 – at the property in Glasgow’s Parkhead.
The pair dished out horrific punishment methods which included forcing some of the youngsters into an animal pen.
Another victim was made to stand with geese who pecked her skin while a further girl was ordered to bathe in a bird bath.
Some of the kids went hungry under the Daniels roof but one recalled being fed eat cow tongue meant for pet ferrets by “evil” Barbara Daniel.
The Daniels, now of Kent, denied the accusations which spanned between 1986 and 1991.
But their brave victims’ testimonies decades later were vital as they were found guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to six charges of cruel and unnatural treatment of a child.
They Daniels were jailed for 30 months each at the sentencing earlier on Monday.
Sheriff Louise Arrol KC told them: “These children were removed from their primary caregivers and given to you as an emergency placement for their safety.
“What we learned what that these children were unsafe in their placement with you.
“The abuse you perpetrated on them was emotional, physical and psychological.
“Your treatment of these children was to install fear and terror which is nothing short of barbaric.
“The lifelong effect is unquantifiable. These children were in desperate need for nurture and care and love.
“Depriving them of this has resulted in a myriad of life changes. The impact on each of them is absolutely clear.
“I commend their bravery in coming forward to relive their life altering trauma.
“Their victim impact statements describe the abuse suffered has shaped every part of their lives negatively. The effects are still enduring.
“In short, you robbed them of their childhood.
“You were in a position of trust, apparently safeguarding vulnerable children.
“More than that you chose to act in the role of parent for these children.
“The behaviour you engaged in towards the children in your care was clearly degrading and humiliating.”
The court heard that the Daniels started fostering the first of their 100 children in 1986.
A 48-year-old woman told how she and her younger sister – then aged nine and four – went to live with them.
She recalled an incident when her sister – who was afraid of chickens – was held in a coop at the back of the property.
The woman said: “They locked the door from the outside.
“I tried to get her as my sister was screaming.”
When asked by prosecutor Ryan Watson who put her sister in the chicken coop, the woman replied: “Douglas.”
She added that while this went on, Barbara Daniel pulled her hair and helped Douglas Daniel close their door.
Mr Watson told jurors in his evidence: “The four-year-old was desperate to get out and was being pushed back inside.
“She was petrified, screaming to get out and she says to this day she cannot take her own children to a farm due to that experience.”
A 53-year-old woman stated in her evidence that Barbara Daniel made her stand with geese as a form of punishment.
She said: “When I spoke back to the Daniels or Barbara would get me to eat food that I disliked, geese eggs.
“If I refused, part of my punishment was I would be put outside where the geese were running free.
“The geese would attack you. She would pull you and shake you. Barbara would put you in front of the geese.
“The geese could tell you were scared of them and attack you.”
She stated that she was left with red marks “that would not go away” as the geese would nip her skin.
One of the woman told how she was also made to bathe outside.
Mr Watson said: “This was a bath where the birds would bathe or defecate in. Barbara would push her in and laugh at her
“She was only allowed to come out when Barbara had her fun.”
The same woman recalled being served a Sunday roast before it was taken away by Barbara Daniel.
Mr Watson added: “They then gave her cow’s tongue which due for the ferrets.
“She remembers I was the most disgusting thing she ever seen.
“She recalled that it was grey and saw the taste buds of the tongue.”
Some of the victims told jurors that they were not fed by the Daniels.
Another victim claimed she ate from the kitchen floor.
Mr Watson said: “She was looked on as the same as the dogs by the Daniels.”
A 47-year-old man who stayed with the Daniels told jurors that Barbara was seen as the “boss” while Douglas was a “scary physical man.”
The man recalled instances where he was forced to stand outside in the heat against a wall.
Douglas also attacked one of the girls by slapping them and ordered a victim to strip naked to check for injuries.
Barbara Daniel’s violence included hitting one of the girls with a wooden spoon and pulling a victim by her hair.
The victims told jurors that their personal freedoms were restricted by being locked in their rooms and the windows alarmed.
A woman recalled not being able to go to the toilet alone with the door locked.
One of the victims stated that she was only given one ply of toilet paper to use.
Mr Watson said: “They punished these children and showed no compassion or cared. They were the real animals.
“This was supposed to be a safe home, respite from the troubles in the other aspects of their life. The Daniels did not offer them that basic, simple and expected need.”
Douglas Daniel in his evidence denied the allegations put to him by his counsel Duncan McPhie.
The retired car mechanic said: “They never happened. There is no truth to any of them.”
Duncan McPhie, defending Douglas Daniel, told the sentencing that his client continues to profess his innocence.
Alistair Sloan, defending Barbara Daniel, accepted his client’s position that she was the full time care giver.
