Pensioner ‘gave children sweets laced with sedatives at summer camp', court told

Telegraph

3 days ago

A retired vet allegedly gave children at a Christian summer camp sweets 'laced with sedatives', a court heard.
John Ruben, the charity's secretary, is facing charges relating to three different children between eight and 11 after his stepson called the police to the camp in Stathern, Leicestershire on Sunday 27 July.
The defendant, 76, appeared in Leicester magistrates' court on Saturday for a 10-minute hearing, to be charged with three counts of wilful ill-treatment.
Wearing a grey prison jumper and tracksuit, Mr Ruben, of Ruddington, Nottingham, stood as the charges were read.
Each charge stated that Mr Ruben wilfully assaulted, ill-treated, neglected, abandoned or exposed a child in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health.
Marc Thompson, prosecuting, told the court the case involved the 'sedation of children whilst at a holiday camp' and that it was a 'complex matter'.
'The matter does involve the sedation of young children while at a holiday camp,' Mr Thompson said. 'The Crown anticipates further charges and further evidence. This is a complex matter.'
Mr Thompson added that matter was reported by Mr Ruben's stepson.
Mr Ruben spoke only to confirm his name, age and address and gave no indication of plea. No application for bail was made and the case was sent to Leicester Crown Court where Mr Ruben will appear on Aug 29.
Air ambulance attends
Police received a report of children feeling unwell at the camp at Stathern Lodge on Sunday, but officers were not deployed until Monday.
Ten ambulances and an air ambulance were in attendance, and eight children, all boys aged between eight and 11, were taken to hospital as a precaution. They have all since been discharged.
On Monday, Mr Ruben was arrested in a pub car park in Plungar, just over a mile from the lodge, where the village hall was used as a triage centre to assess all children present at the camp.
Before he retired, Mr Ruben spent more than 40 years as a vet after qualifying from the Royal (Dick) Vet School in Edinburgh in 1972 before completing a PhD in virology, studying NDV in chickens.
He opened his own small animal practice in the 1980s, which expanded to eight vets and four branches, but then changed direction and qualified as an early years primary school teacher. He then worked as a locum vet, and as the children and youth worker at his church.
Mr Ruben is thought to have ended his work as a locum vet last year when he dissolved his company, but had previously stood to join the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Council in 2012. He received 800 votes, short of the 1,200 needed to be elected.
According to a blog for his campaign, he had previously stood for the Conservatives at local elections in Edinburgh.
Christian charity
The children were at the summer camp at the lodge, owned by the Braithwaite Gospel Trust, a Christian charity, which bought it in 2017, when they fell ill.
Mr Ruben is the secretary of a separate Christian charity, Stathern Children's Holiday Fund, which has run camps at the lodge in recent years and provides free holidays to underprivileged youngsters aged eight to 12.
Each camp is normally three days long and involves around 30 children, mostly from the Aspley and Clifton areas of Nottingham. The camps normally feature trips to leisure centres, have a theme each year and are run by volunteers who provide three meals a day.
Activities are a mix of crafts and organised games, and children get free time to play table tennis, pool and games consoles or sports including football, basketball and badminton.