The thing that stands out the most from those days is when three girls were done for shaving the Housemother's son in the back gardens. That came after he raped one of the first year girls out and got away weith it. I didn't have anything to do with it, but I learnt a lot from it. Girls rule, for example.

You don't hear of places like Berkeley court anymore, which isn't surprising when you think what went on. It was a place they sent girls who were put into care after being abused, and they tried to run it like some glorified family, but you couldn't have invented a better training establishment for prostitution if you'd tried, as it happens. The pimps would be waiting for us outside the gates every night, and there was nothing the Housemother could do about it as we were free citizens and could come and go as we like, at least up to ten O'clock.

The thing with Adrian took place when I was about thirteen; it made the National papers, and we all became stars for a little while.

Adie was a real kinky little creep. He was always after a shag but without paying for it there was no go at Berkeley Court. He`d go in our rooms while we were in school, steal our clothes, he'd always be trying to lift our skirts and grab us wherever he liked. The trouble was that Mrs Phillips the Housemother, was HIS mother, and although we kept putting in complaints it made no difference. He wasn't just kinky, though, he was violent, and always picked on the smaller girls. I remember one of the older girls, Tina Oparry, having a fight with him, and he smashed her head on the drinking fountain and she had to be taken to hospital.

The kid he raped, Clare, she was just this thin weak first year kid, and she had really bad asthma and a lot of problems. I think that was it as far as the rest of us were concerned and we called the police and everything. But Adie must have lied his way out of it as nothing was done. He just carried on the same way as before and we were all given lectures about leading boys on and the consequences.

Those were the days of miniskirts and six inch heels, and us younger girls were all experimenting with our looks and trying to catch the eye of the pimps. As soon as we left the gate on our way to school we'd put on our make-up and hitch up our skirts as high as possible for the benefit of passing cars. I remember at lunch breaks me and my friend Anna would go down the town in our games skirts and sit on the ground outside Tesco's with our knees up so everyone could see our knickers. I learnt how that gets the attention all right.

A few weeks after what happened with Clare three of the older girls took Adie out in the garden and cut off his prick and balls with a knife they nicked from the kitchen. I don`t know all the details because we never saw them again, but we were all very pleased with this revenge. We did see Adie though, after he'd been let out of hospital, and he was very different. At first he tried to avoid us, which was difficult us all living on top of each other as we did.

To be continued if anyone`s interested.