IT WAS a college for killers, a barbaric boys home where sadism and sexual abuse were rife.
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Housing infamous criminals such as “Neddy” Smith, George Freeman and James Finch, the Tamworth Boys’ Home was established in 1947 as a place of punishment for boys aged 15 to 18 who absconded from other homes.
It has been claimed inmates at the facility, which only housed 18 boys at any one time, went on to commit 19 violent murders as adults.
And now a former inmate of the home has claimed “dozens more” murders can be traced back to the brutal home – and he’s writing about it.
Keith Kelly, now 70, walked through Tamworth’s “gates of hell” in 1961 after escaping from another home.
His plight, and that of many other young inmates, has been documented in news stories – especially in The Leader in past years, and even television documentaries just three years ago.
But now Mr Kelly says he’s putting his story to words too and there’s even hopes for a movie.
Keith Kelly’s initiation into the Tamworth boys’ home back in 1961 set the tone for a harrowing year.
“As soon as you walk in the gates an officer takes you to a room and gives you a biffing and a kicking to say ‘I’m in charge’,” Mr Kelly said.
“We were regularly beaten and tortured; there were kids selling themselves for a piece of bread and butter.
“We weren’t even allowed to look at each other. We had to be six feet away from other inmates at all times, except when we were eating.”
The sights Mr Kelly saw are forever etched in his memory.
“I saw a guy slit his own throat in front of me,” he said.
“When I finally left, my only aim in life was to kill two of the guards.”
He said the 19 deaths attributed to past inmates were only the “tip of the iceberg”.
“There were dozens more murders than that,” Mr Kelly said.
“Once you left there you didn’t know what to do, didn’t know who to trust.
“It was a breeding ground for killers – anyone who set foot inside there went bad.
“It turned us into monsters.”
Psychologically and physically damaged, Mr Kelly spent much of his young adult life in prison.
At age 44, he met his wife and has been out of trouble since.
He is writing a book and helping put together a movie about his time in the home.
“People need to know about it,” he said.
“I don’t want this to happen to any other kids.”
Adding to his trauma is the fact no officers were ever charged with offences relating to abuse at the home.
