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Darren Laverty, the child abuse campaigner who gave evidence to the Waterhouse tribunal, has had to give up his studies at the University of Wales, Bangor, because he does not have the money to continue.

Despite having completed two years of his three-year course in criminology and being predicted to attain a 2:1 honours degree, Laverty, a father of two, who left care in North Wales at 16, said he had no option but to look for a job to support himself and his family.

"I have tried every option available but it seems that the system has let me down yet again," he said.

"It is just not possible to exist on such a low income."

Laverty, now aged 34, failed to get compensation for the alleged physical abuse he suffered while in the Bryn Estyn children's home, North Wales.

At the North Wales child abuse tribunal, Sir Ronald Waterhouse described Laverty's bid to gain a degree as "an astonishing recovery".