A British Airways plane descends to land at Heathrow Airport in west London. REUTERS PHOTO| FILE
By REUTERS and BDAfrica.com REPORTER
In Summary
- The allegations of sexual abuse have been made by 16 girls aged eight to 20, but more complaints are expected.
- Wood, 54, was found dead after being hit by a train in August last year, two weeks before he was due in court.
- The schools and orphanages the victims attended were all in receipt of charitable donations from the airline.
More than a dozen East African girls and young women
plan to sue British Airways alleging they were sexually abused by one if
its pilots.
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The incidents took place in various
schools and orphanages and involved victims aged from eight to 20, a law
firm representing them said Wednesday.
The revelations come a week after
an American teenager, Matthew Lane Durham, was arrested and charged for
allegedly sexually abusing children aged between 4 and ten years at
Upendo Children's Home in Nairobi.
Lawyers argue that the airline
should be held responsible for the actions of First Officer Simon Wood
who carried out the alleged crimes during stopovers in Kenya, Uganda and
Tanzania.
Wood, 54, was found dead after
being hit by a train in August last year, two weeks before he was due in
court on charges of indecent assault and making indecent photos of a
child.
"We allege that Wood was able to
abuse the victims by reason of his employment with the airline, in
particular through his involvement with the airlines’ community
relations work," said Nichola Marshall, a lawyer at Leigh Day which is
representing 16 alleged victims.
"The schools and orphanages that
our clients attended were all in receipt of charitable donations from
the airline and Wood played a key role in administering those donations
on behalf of British Airways."
A team from the law firm would meet with other possible victims in Kenya and Uganda in the coming weeks, she said.
British media reports suggest there may be as many as 50 victims.
In 2002, Wood was among 20 crew members from two BA
flights who volunteered to spend the Easter holiday with Kenyan
youngsters, showering the orphanage with presents, medicines and
donations raised at home.
He told journalists: "We play, sing, organise activities and generally entertain them. We become very close to the children."
"We were shocked and horrified to
hear the allegations against Simon Wood, which appear to relate to his
involvement in child-related activities entirely outside the scope of
his employment with British Airways," BA said in a statement.
The case will be heard in a London court.
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