Karen Bentham says she "shared my journey so others would see they are not alone".

She is wearing a personalised hoodie in tribute to the survivors of the abuse at Skircoat Lodge.

"Using my voice allows me to help others find theirs.

"A children's home should be a place of safety. For me, it became a place where my safety was taken.

"The impact of his actions has shaped every one of the 13,116 days that have followed."

The court is hearing from Karen Bentham, another former resident of Skircoat Lodge who has waived her right to anonymity.

She says she has waited a total of 13,116 days for justice since she was raped twice by Malcolm Phillips in 1990.

"What happened to me has never stayed in the past. It's in your body, in your mind and in the way your experience the world," she says, talking through tears.

"Safety has never felt normal. Trauma shaped my relationships. Sustaining relationships has been complicated."

Like other victims, Bentham also speaks of having suicidal thoughts since the abuse.

Prosecutor Michelle Colborn KC is now discussing the sentencing guidelines for some of the offences.

She submits that these offences should fall into the most serious category for punishment due to the "severe" harm to the victims, who were particularly vulnerable.

Image source, West Yorkshire Police

Linda Brunning, above, told one boy his mother didn't love him and he had to rely on her now, court hears.

In a victim impact statement, the court is told how Skircoat Lodge was a "horrible, cruel environment with sexual predators".

"I had two residences at Skircoat Lodge and nothing had changed. In fact, it was worse," one says.

Another victim uses their statement to tell the court they were "subjected to torture, harm, degradation and trauma".

"I was constantly told: 'Nobody cares, nobody loves you, you are worthless'."

The judge has risen for another short break.

The court hears from another victim who had several stays at Skircoat Lodge up until the age of 13.

He says he was raped by Malcolm Phillips as punishment for running away. He would escape due to the abuse he received at the hands of Phillips and his deputy, Linda Brunning.

Shortly after he arrived at the home, he told Brunning how he missed his mum.

"[Brunning] sat him on her knee and told him his mother didn't love him and told him he had to rely on her now."

He says he would sometimes pass out due to the pressure of Brunning sitting on him.

Together with Phillips, they would punish him by throwing him naked into a cold bath of water.

Another victim says Linda Brunning would wake him and other boys up in the morning by "physically jumping on them".

She would also sexually touch him when he got out of the shower.

The defendant does not react to the testimony, read out by prosecutor Michelle Colborn KC. She is staring downwards.

"I spent six months at Skircoat Lodge and every day I was sexually abused, physically abused, emotionally and mentally abused by Malcolm Phillips and his deputy," says another victim.

Recalling the nightly trauma, which took place when he was 10 years old, he says: "I couldn't do anything, I was a child. But that doesn't stop me feeling guilty and shameful.

"I didn't really have a childhood, it was taken away by abusers."

The victim says the impact of the abuse has also affected his relationships in adult life.

The court is hearing more testimony from victims who lived at Skircoat Lodge.

One of them says Phillips "had a presence about him which was frightening", adding that he "appeared to be deliberately singling children out for punishment".

"At nighttime children would be taken from their beds and not seen again until the following day."

Several people in court wipe away tears as Angela Radford's victim impact statement concludes.

Radford says the trial made her feel "humiliated and shamed" by having to go over the abuse again.

"When I received the verdict I felt like 'Finally I am believed'.

"My life as a teenager, it should have been one of the happiest times of my life. It was taken away from me.

"He [Phillips] should die in prison."

Malcolm Phillips "just did what he wanted and we were powerless to stop him", says Angela Radford.

Through tears, she says her social worker took her back to Skircoat Lodge despite her telling him about the abuse taking place there.

"He called me a liar and battered me [...] adults were to be believed, not children.

"The stigma of being called a liar has stayed with me throughout my life."

The hearing resumes, with Angela Radford reading her victim impact statement to the court.

Tearfully, she tells the room she was taken into care "through no fault of my own".

"Instead of being looked after I was degraded," she says, adding that she felt "failed and abused" by those in positions of authority.

"When I was there it was horrendous and I can still hear the screams today, the girls screaming: 'Get your hands off me'."

The judge rises temporarily while Phillips takes a break due to a medical condition.

We expect to resume just after 11:00 BST.

The court is hearing details about the experience of Angela Radford, who lived at the home and has waived her right to anonymity.

Colborn says she ran away from the home numerous times yet "seemingly no one asked why and showed any concern for her safety".

"Police labelled her a liar and said she was trouble."

Colborn tells the court the abuse went unreported "against a backdrop of legitimacy" for two decades before a staff member blew the whistle in the 1990s.

Phillips justified his behaviour "by saying he was preparing boys for worse stuff".

Meanwhile, Brunning was a "large, fearsome character who used her size to overwhelm children" and would sit on them.

She would "humiliate and bully children, shifting from a seemingly kind nature to become violent."

Established in 1976 to provide a "temporary home and place of protection for children who were subject to care orders", Colborn tells the court.

Phillips was placed in charge of the home by Calderdale Council from its opening in 1976.

"With that position came power. He let no one challenge his authority."

He had "unfettered access" to children's rooms. Phillips "used his power to abuse children".

Brunning was employed there from 1978. She was "adept at isolating and manipulating children" and "took pleasure" in abusing those in her care, Colborn says.

"The defendants told the children that no one cared about them and that no one would believe them."

Prosecutor Michelle Colborn KC is recapping the case, which centred on the abuse of six children at a children's home in Halifax between the mid-1970s and mid-1990s.

All but one of the victims were under 16 at the time of the offences, the court hears.

Linda Brunning has been convicted of indecent assault on a 14-year-old boy and of aiding and abetting indecent assault.

Linda Brunning has been produced from custody to be sentenced, having been on remand since February, while Malcolm Phillips is on a video link from home.

Judge Kirstie Watson tells the court she wanted Phillips to attend in person but was presented with medical evidence that he would not be fit to travel.

Three victims are present in court.

Emma Glasbey
Home and Social Affairs Correspondent, BBC Yorkshire

Chris Wild was sent to Skircoat Lodge aged 11 in the 1990s after his father died.

Wild, who was not a victim of sexual abuse, described Skircoat as a "house of horrors" and has campaigned for further investigation.

"I had many friends in there who are not here anymore because they took their own lives," he says.

"There are young people whose lives were destroyed, adults who are suffering with mental health issues and there's never been a public apology."