A nun told a boy in her care he was "garbage" as she informed him he was to be sent from Scotland to Australia, an inquiry has heard.

Christopher Booth, 77, was giving evidence to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry which is investigating claims of abuse at four former children's homes which were run by the Catholic congregation the Sisters of Nazareth.

Mr Booth, who waived his right to anonymity, was admitted to Nazareth House in Aberdeen at the age of ten in 1951.

He said he stayed at the "brutal" institution for around seven months before he was sent to Australia as a child migrant in 1952.

The inquiry heard a nun informed him of the move, telling him: "Your family doesn't want you, your country doesn't want you, you're just garbage".

Mr Booth said he was given a "thrashing" after a relative went to the home to complain about him being moved overseas and said his mother later told him she had "not agreed to send me to Australia".

He described how he was sent with a group of children from elsewhere in the UK to Australia and he was then taken out to Tasmania.

The witness said he was sexually abused by priests in Australia, saying the abuse was "constant".

Mr Booth also told of receiving a "thrashing" from a priest, saying they "all had their choice of weapon" such as a cane or leather strap.

He said of the British authorities at the time: "I was born a Scotsman. When I was sent to Australia I was robbed of a family, I was robbed of a country, I was robbed of an education."

Asked about his earlier time at Nazareth House in Aberdeen, Mr Booth told of regular thrashings at the hands of nuns using canes.

Children would be hit "until you cried", he said.

"They were very happy to see if they could break you," he told the inquiry.

Asked why the children were beaten, he replied: "Looking back with hindsight now, I think they enjoyed it.

"I think they looked forward to some of the boys breaking the rules."

Mr Booth told chair Lady Smith "there was no affection shown to any of the boys" at Nazareth House.

The inquiry continues on Thursday.