By GRAHAM GRANT, HOME AFFAIRS EDITOR FOR THE SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL
Child abusers at a prestigious Scottish boarding school were ‘protected by tradition’ for 60 years, an inquiry has found.
Abuse became ‘normalised for generations of boys’ at Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh as concerns over their welfare were ‘ignored’.
Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) chairman Lady Smith, a retired High Court judge, published her findings on the provision of residential care at the school.
One of the ‘prolific abusers’, veteran teacher and former pupil James Rainy Brown, took his own life aged 75 in 2013 after learning of a police investigation – prompting a major policy review in 2014, the report said.
Another abuser, Mervyn Preston, had taught Rainy Brown as a pupil – while a total of eight teachers were deemed to have been abusers.
The school – where fees are up to £50,706 a year – yesterday issued an ‘unreserved’ apology and said child protection measures were now in place.
The report said indecency occurred from the 1950s to the second decade of the 21st century.
But Lady Smith said that ‘by the early 2000s, Merchiston thought itself a leader in the child protection field’.
Abuse became ‘normalised for generations of boys’ at Merchiston School for boys in Edinburgh, an inquiry found
Lady Smith said ‘references were badly handled and child protection concerns ignored’, while voyeurism and indecent assaults were common.
She added: ‘Abusers, and potential abusers, were sometimes protected by tradition, long service, or governor loyalty.’
The findings, part of the £95million inquiry’s overall boarding schools case study, found that ‘in common with Loretto School, Morrison’s Academy, Gordonstoun, and Queen Victoria School, children who boarded at Merchiston were exposed to risks of suffering sexual, physical and emotional abuse’.
Lady Smith concluded the two main perpetrators at Merchiston – Rainy Brown and Preston – were ‘virtually untouchable’.
She said: ‘From the 1950s to the second decade of the 21st century, there was a more or less continuous line of consistent indecency perpetrated by two prolific abusers, Mervyn Preston and James Rainy Brown.
‘The former taught the latter, who then returned to Merchiston as a teacher, after which they worked together.
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‘They engaged in abusive behaviour which became normalised for generations of boys.
‘In the cases of both those men, their longstanding service and positions of power in boarding houses rendered them virtually untouchable.
‘In total, eight teachers abused children sexually.
‘Seven were male and one was female.
‘Conduct included voyeurism, encouraging nudity, indecent exposure, indecent assaults, and in the case of the female, it included encouraging senior pupils to engage in sexual intercourse with her.’
She said the school’s strong culture of rugby and sport left those who did not fit in vulnerable to abuse and bullying.
Lady Smith said: ‘For decades, differences – particularly those that made children vulnerable – went unnoticed by the school and staff.
‘The Merchiston culture, where toughness in adversity was encouraged, facilitated and exacerbated abuse.’
She said that by the millennium, the school was ‘content to rely on positive but, in fact, inadequate and insufficiently critical’ inspections, while ‘obvious abusive trends’ were missed – until 2014 when an overhaul was forced due to a wider police inquiry.
But Lady Smith said: ‘All of that fell apart following the suicide of James Rainy Brown, after he had been told he was subject to police investigation.
‘A new inspection regime from 2014, including a wider police inquiry, revealed many longstanding weaknesses in child protection and pastoral care.
‘Policies and their implementation had been unsatisfactory. HR processes had been consistently poor and leadership weak although well intended.
‘Concerning behaviour had been recorded, but obvious abusive trends were repeatedly missed.’
Former teacher James Rainy Brown, took his own life aged 75 in 2013 after learning of a police investigation
After a poor inspection report in 2015, Merchiston was made subject to special measures by the Scottish Government.
It was obliged to respond, and Lady Smith said it was ‘well led by its board of governors’ and policies ‘were corrected and became meaningful’.
Yesterday headmaster Jonathan Anderson and Gareth Baird, chairman of the board of governors, said: ‘Today’s report by Lady Smith is detailed, fair and, at times, a difficult read.
‘It uncovers a history of unacceptable abuse suffered by many former pupils and highlights the enduring impact on their lives decades later.
‘To all those who suffered abuse while in the care of Merchiston Castle School, we offer our most sincere and unreserved apology.
‘No child should ever suffer harm, especially not in a place that exists to nurture and educate.
‘Those who were abused by their teachers or their fellow pupils deserved better, and we are truly sorry that they were so badly let down.’
■ For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123, visit a branch or go to http://www.samaritans.org
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