THE Scottish executive, police and social work chiefs are bracing themselves for a flurry of legal action in the wake of a report into the sexual abuse of three young girls in the Western Isles.

The main suspect in the case has said that he intends to sue for damages over the damning report, which exposed his previous conviction for indecently assaulting a nine-year-old and concluded that the girls had been subjected to “severe and prolonged” sexual and physical abuse.

Meanwhile, the children at the centre of the investigation are to hold talks with lawyers to find out whether they can sue Western Isles council over its failure to protect them. They are also understood to be considering mounting a private prosecution against their abusers.

The report — the contents of which were first revealed in The Sunday Times in August — was ordered after charges against nine people arrested in connection with the inquiry were dropped without explanation last year.

The 170-page document, prepared by the Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA) and published last week, concluded that social workers, health professionals and police had failed the girls by not heeding their complaints early enough.

Between them, the girls were the subject to about 220 reports of abuse between 1991 and 2001. They were beaten, cut, burned with cigarettes and forced to live in squalid conditions. One of the girls slept in a cupboard, while another was forced to eat cat food.

Yesterday the main suspect in the case, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he had been in touch with his lawyer about suing for damages.

According to the report, the girls, who now live with foster parents, made repeated allegations against the man, including that he was paid to allow other people to abuse them.

In 1986, he was convicted of indecent assault of a nine-year-old girl. He was given three years’ probation and registered as a sex offender.

The man claims to have been attacked by a member of the public, suffering a broken jaw, as a result of the allegations made against him.

“This is about people being very vindictive, the charge against me was made 20 years ago and I’ve put it behind me, I’ve moved on,” he claimed. “My solicitor will be in contact with the procurator fiscal Monday morning.”

Another couple arrested on Lewis and later released said they were also keen to pursue legal action. “We will be speaking to our solicitor for advice,” said Susan Sellwood, whose husband John was one of those accused. “We want it to go to court, we want this out in the open, so the truth can be known. I’ve been told we are eligible for legal aid.”

Yesterday, Malcolm Smith, head of Western Isles social work department, admitted action should have been taken sooner to protect the girls.

“We acknowledge we could and should have taken action earlier,” he said. “I can confirm the children have been put in touch with legal representation and in circumstances like this, we see the provision of appropriate and independent legal advice to the girls as part of our duty of care.”

Alasdair Morrison, MSP for the Western Isles, said he hoped the girls would take legal action against their abusers. “If the girls and their legal team decide to pursue a private prosecution, that would be welcomed because there are people out there who have abused the children and have never seen the consequences of their heinous crimes in a court of law,” he said. “I also want an explanation from the Crown to see if we can discover why it decided not to prosecute.”

Last night the Crown Office said: “The decision not to prosecute was not taken lightly. All of the available evidence was carefully assessed both in terms of quantity and quality, but Crown counsel were sadly forced to conclude that the evidence available did not reach the high standard required.”

The nine people initially charged with sex offences were arrested in October 2003 on Lewis and in Dorset, Leicestershire and West Yorkshire as part of a police operation codenamed Operation Haven.

The investigation spanned four forces, involved 100 officers and cost more than £100,000.

The family at the centre of the inquiry had contact with almost 100 health professionals, whose attention was drawn to 29 cases of suspected “non-accidental” injury and sexual abuse, 22 of neglect and 171 recorded instances where the children had marks, bruises or other “health concerns”.

The SWIA report concludes: “We found that professionals were too willing to believe the accounts of adult members about what was happening at home, rather than the children’s.”

The review makes 31 recommendations to reform the child protection system in Scotland, including ensuring that all family records are transferred between authorities when a vulnerable child moves home.

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