5 November 2012 Last updated at 10:56 ET

Wales child abuse: PM orders sex abuse inquiry probe

Carwyn Jones urged abuse victims who felt their cases were not investigated properly to contact the police

The prime minister is appointing a "senior independent figure" to look into the way allegations of sexual abuse at north Wales children's homes in the 1970s and '80s were dealt with.

Victim Steve Messham has said that the Waterhouse inquiry of 2000 only covered a fraction of the alleged assaults.

"Child abuse is an absolutely hateful and abhorrent crime," Mr Cameron said.

He also said Mr Messham would meet with the Welsh secretary, David Jones, on Tuesday.

Speaking in Abu Dhabi, the prime minister added: "These allegations are truly dreadful and they mustn't be left hanging in the air, so I'm taking action today.

"I'm going to be asking a senior independent figure to lead an urgent investigation into whether the original inquiry was properly constituted and properly did its job and to report urgently to the government."

Mr Cameron also urged anyone who knows anything about the allegations of abuse to contact police.

Transparency call

A three-year inquiry into the abuse centred around the Bryn Estyn children's home in north Wales was published in 2000 by Sir Ronald Waterhouse.

Among the other claims made by Mr Messham, one of hundreds who claim they were sexually abused during that period, is that he was abused by a leading Thatcher-era Conservative politician.

Wales' Children's Commissioner Keith Towler said Mr Messham's claims had to be taken seriously and the police and other authorities should be given the opportunity to investigate.

However, Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones said there needed to be more than one complainant to merit another abuse inquiry.

He said anyone with allegations should report them to the police or the children's commissioner.

Mr Towler and Mr Jones will meet on Tuesday to discuss the case.

Report pulped

North Wales Police said it was also seeking to establish whether there were any allegations that required new or further investigation.

The abuse centred around the Bryn Estyn children's home in north Wales

In the early 1990s, allegations of the abuse in almost 40 children's homes in Wales started to surface and in March 1994 Clwyd County Council commissioned an independent inquiry into claims of widespread abuse across north Wales.

But the inquiry's report was never published and the copies were pulped to ensure the local authority was able to maintain its insurance cover.

In the wake of this, and amid growing public pressure, in 1996 the-then Secretary of State for Wales, William Hague, ordered an inquiry into allegations of hundreds of cases of child abuse in children's homes in former county council areas of Clwyd and Gwynedd between 1974 and 1990.

The tribunal, led by Sir Ronald, heard evidence from more than 650 people who had been in care from 1974 and took almost three years to publish its report. Sir Ronald died in 2011.

Counsel for the inquiry mentioned the existence of a "shadowy figure of high public standing", but said that there was no substantial evidence to support the allegations.

The Waterhouse Inquiry identified 28 alleged perpetrators but they were never identified in public.

Anyone with information into these allegations - or who needs support on the issues raised in this article - can call the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000 or email help@nspcc.org.uk, or call their local police station by dialling 101.

Source : bbc[dot]co[dot]uk