News

A couple who were formerly foster parents for Cambridgeshire council have been convicted of abusing and assaulting young people in their care.

Jeff and Brenda Tanner from Peterborough, who denied committing more than 20 offences, were told by a judge at King's Lynn crown court that they were guilty of "cruelty" and "depravity".

One senior detective described the Tanners' behaviour as "one of the most despicable things you can imagine".

Two of the victims were children at the time of the offences in the 1980s. They both had special needs, and a third victim was an adult with special needs.

Judge Isobel Plumstead said Jeff Tanner was the principal abuser and warned him he faced a long prison sentence. His wife also faces a prison sentence,

The couple were convicted in April, but the jury's verdict was not announced until this week for legal reasons. They will be sentenced next month.

A Cambridgeshire council statement said the authority had always acknowledged that services were under "severe pressure" in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But major improvements had taken place since a change of senior management in 1998, the statement read.