More perpetrators of Edinburgh Academy abuse 'must be brought to justice'

The statement comes after Lady Smith, chair of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), found children suffered violence and harm over 40 years at the school as senior figures sought to protect its reputation and ignore complaints.

Thompsons Solicitors, which represents many of the former pupils who gave evidence to the inquiry, say some of those who carried out the abuse "have yet to see the inside of a Scottish court room".

Former teacher Iain Wares, 87, was due to appear in a court in South Africa on Tuesday as prosecutors in Scotland pursue his extradition to stand trial on dozens of charges of abuse of boys both at Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College during the 1960s and 1970s.

Laura Connor, partner at Thompsons, said: “In her report into Edinburgh Academy Lady Smith makes clear this was school where physical and sexual abuse of children was a part of everyday life.

“Combined with bullying, racism and homophobia and very clear picture emerges of a completely dysfunction institution where cruelty and sadism were tolerated and excused. The brave individuals who spoke with the Inquiry, many of whom are our clients, have been admirable in coming forward and giving evidence on what they endured.

“The conduct of those who ran the school was appalling and continues to astonish those who learn of it.

“ We also wait to see those remaining Academy perpetrators who have yet to be brought to justice see the inside of a Scottish court room.”

Ms Connor also criticised those who currently run Edinburgh Academy.

She said they had apologised for the “dreadful crimes” committed against children, while adding they had “behaved in a very difficult and uncoopertive way in settling civil claims for those who were abused.”

“That must end,” Ms Connor added.

Edinburgh Academy did not comment directly on its handling of civil cases brought against the school but repeated its “sincere apology” to all those who suffered abuse at the institution.

Damages have been paid to some former pupils, with “several” claims still outstanding, it is understood.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry was told survivors are still “haunted” by the sexual, physical and emotional abuse they endured for years at the boarding school in the capital.

Lady Smith, chair of the inquiry, also condemned the school for focusing on protecting its reputation and ignoring complaints, saying the school “failed to look at itself through a realistic and critical lens”.

Perpetrators of the abuse included teacher Hamish Dawson, who died in 2009, and former housemaster John Brownlee.

In 2024, Brownlee, then 89, was ruled by a court to have committed “cruel and unnatural acts” of physical and emotional abuse on pupils at the school between 1967 and 1991, but was deemed medically unfit to stand trial and was not sentenced to punishment.

The inquiry’s report also singles out preparatory school teacher Iain Wares, who after leaving Edinburgh Academy worked for Fettes College before relocating to South Africa.

He has been accused of abuse by scores of former pupils of both schools.

In March, a court found that Wares indecently assaulted a former pupil at Rondebosch Boys' Primary School in Cape Town in 1988.

The other name singled out in the report was physics teacher William Bain, who has twice been convicted of sex offences.

He too went on to abuse children in other schools after leaving Edinburgh Academy.

Broadcaster Nicky Campbell, who attended Edinburgh Academy between 1966 and 1978, was among those who gave evidence to the inquiry.

He described being “haunted” in the middle of the night by memories of his schooldays.

The BBC 5Live presenter said he felt overwhelming sadness for the victims, including those who suffered at the hands of their fellow pupils.

He said: “Some of us are lucky enough to be surrounded by support and love, but it never goes away.”

Mr Campbell added: “Although the 1970s might seem to be the dark ages, it’s still happening in different places in different ways.

“We still have to be relentlessly child-centred in our approach in these matters because someone, somewhere is being abused who needs our protection.”

One witness described experiencing and witnessing abuse which was ubiquitous in the daily lives of the children.

He said: “It was normal to groom 11-year-olds with jelly babies … and molest them in front of 20 others.

“It was normal to kick, hit and strangle, to the point of unconsciousness, 10-year-olds. It was normal to inflict physical punishment with a plank of wood for no good reason.

“It was normal for grown men to inflict psychological belittlement on children. It was normal to allow endless cycles of bullying to go unnoticed or unchecked and the bullied becoming bullies ad infinitum.

“It was normal to completely ignore flagrant racism, sexism, homophobia. It was normal to have no safeguarding. It was normal to have no risk assessment.

“It was normal to have to abuse reporting policy or mechanism obvious to the pupils. It was normal for there to be no pastoral care, and it was normal to be somewhere where nobody, not one person, loved or genuinely cared for you.”

Lady Smith said: “None of this behaviour was ‘normal’, or acceptable. It was simply abusive.”

She added: “Hamish Dawson’s ‘eccentric’ behaviour in the classroom was known about, yet it was celebrated by the school.

“When pornography was found in his desk, nothing was done about it.

“The various ‘instruments of correction’ - also known as ‘instruments of flagellation’ and ‘instruments of torture’ - which he had used to abuse pupils were auctioned on his departure from the school.”

The inquiry found the sexual abuse perpetrated at the school took a variety of forms and extended over four decades, from the 1950s to the 1980s. Some children were sexually abused by other children.

Physical abuse was normalised, with violence being an aspect of an aggressive culture which was present in the school - a culture which persisted into the 1990s.

Following the introduction of co-education in the sixth form, girls were the targets of unpleasant and abusive misogyny.

Homophobia was rife and racism was prevalent even in the preparatory school. It involved anti-English sentiment, and some children were abused by other pupils because of their colour or because they were Jewish, the inquiry heard.

The Edinburgh Academy Survivors Group have welcomed the inquiry’s findings and thanked Lady Smith for an “accurate and thoughtful account of the events we endured as children”.

Barry Welsh, the current rector of Edinburgh Academy, said: “We have a commitment to facing up to the wrongs of the past which remains unwavering.

“We are grateful to Lady Smith and we have played our part in her inquiry throughout.

“Her report makes for sombre reading, and reinforces the remarkable bravery shown by our former pupils who have given evidence.

“We reiterate our sincere apology to all those affected by any abuse that occurred at our school.

“While we cannot change the past, we can shape the future. We continue to support survivors as fully as we are able whilst also educating our current pupils in a caring and supportive environment.”

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry is considering evidence up to December 17, 2014, which is within the living memory of any person who suffered abuse.

Edinburgh Academy has been approached for further comment.