Five British nuns are set to stand trial in 2027 after being listed on an indictment containing 108 charges of historic child abuse spanning 17 years. The prosecution claims that offences took place between 1965 and 1982, occurring primarily at Nazareth House facilities located in Aberdeen and Bonnyrigg, Midlothian.

The defendants in the case are Marie Docherty, aged 84, Mary Broderick, aged 84, Kathleen McLean, aged 77, Mary Doyle, aged 81, and Margaret McLafferty, aged 68. All five defendants have previously entered formal pleas of not guilty to every single charge brought against them.

According to the indictment, children placed in the care of the facilities were subjected to widespread and severe physical mistreatment over the 17-year timeframe. The charges detail allegations that young residents were kicked, punched, beaten, force-fed, and subjected to confinement in rooms.

A number of the specific charges set out in the court documents focus on the actions of Marie Docherty. The indictment claims that Docherty pressed a hot iron onto the hand of a teenage girl, repeatedly struck her across the head and body, and forced her to lie in bed.

The charges further claim that Docherty denied food to another young girl until she collapsed. According to the indictment, the same girl was also subjected to having soap shoved into her mouth until she became sick, after which her head was thrust directly into the vomit and she was ordered to consume it.

In another specific allegation involving Docherty, the indictment states that she compelled a boy to eat rotten food, struck him with a wooden stick, confined him to a room, and forced him to stand while wearing soiled bedding.

Further charges in the indictment involve three of the accused together. The prosecution claims that Marie Docherty, Mary Broderick, and Mary Doyle compelled children at the facilities to kiss a corpse.

Across the broader indictment, it is also alleged that children were repeatedly forced to stand while wearing soiled bedding or soiled clothing as part of their treatment at the homes.

The case called for a preliminary hearing on Monday at the High Court in Glasgow before Lord Renucci, where the procedural timeline for the prosecution was formally addressed.

Lord Renucci scheduled a further preliminary hearing to take place on 22 January 2027. The High Court in Glasgow has allocated an eight-week period for the full trial, which is scheduled to commence on 30 March 2027. I'll be following this one.