Nicky Campbell school was ‘cesspit of sadism’, former pupil claimson August 19, 2022 at 5:02 am

A former pupil of Edinburgh Academy has told the BBC that the school was “a cesspit of sadism and paedophilia”.

Kenneth said he was targeted for frequent, vicious beatings “usually with a sporting implement called a clacken which is like a large wooden bat”.

He described his time at the private school as “hell on earth”.

Kenneth said he had decided to speak out after broadcaster Nicky Campbell told how he too was abused there.

An 83-year old retired teacher from the school is currently fighting extradition from South Africa but, according to court documents, has admitted abusing schoolboys in Edinburgh.

Nicky Campbell is one of a number of former pupils who have made allegations about the man who taught at Fettes College and Edinburgh Academy in the 1970s.

Kenneth, 62, was at Edinburgh Academy from 1965 to 1978.

He described how his beatings started when he was aged 10 or 11.

At first he said the “sadistic and brutal treatment” was meted out by one particular teacher in the prep school.

“We all lived in fear,” he said.

When he moved to the upper school he found there were several more teachers and staff members who physically and sexually assaulted pupils.

Once, after having thrown a snowball, he was punched so hard in the kidneys by a teacher that he had to go home from school.

On another occasion, he said, a groundsman had stroked his leg in a changing room before inviting him back to his home.

Kenneth said he refused and made a complaint after which the groundsman was simply moved to a different part of the school.

“I’m grateful to Nicky Campbell because he opened up the door for me, allowed me to step through into the light, or towards the light at least, and put some of that darkness behind me,” Kenneth said.

Campbell told listeners to BBC Radio 5 Live that the abuse he endured at Edinburgh Academy had had a “profound effect” on his life.

The broadcaster decided to speak out after hearing another BBC podcast, In Dark Corners, which investigated abuse at Britain’s private schools.

Kenneth said there was a “culture of violence” at Edinburgh Academy and that he was routinely singled out to be assaulted.

He said the violence was far more extreme and regular than would have been expected under the law which allowed corporal punishment in Scottish state schools until 1987 and private schools until 1998.

Things were so bad, he said, that he took to wearing five or six pairs of underpants to protect himself.

“Eventually they found out and I started to get beaten on the bare buttocks,” he added.

“I can’t ever remember receiving detention or 100 lines. It was always straight to maximum punishment.”

The worst days, Kenneth said, were when he was told early on in the class that he was going to be beaten at the end of the lesson.

“I remember my legs quaking, I remember shaking and just knowing it was coming,” he said.

Kenneth also spoke about a teacher who insisted it was school policy for the boys not to wear underpants under their rugby shorts.

“He would march down the row of boys and pull forward the underpants to look and see,” he said. “If we did have underpants on we had to go and get changed and come back. I was certainly very disturbed by that.”

Eventually, in his mid-teens, Kenneth said he attempted to take his own life.

“A key part of that was the fear of school,” he said.

He said he left the school with “zero self-confidence, zero self-worth” and still suffers from “stress and anxiety.”

He added that he had spent much of his adult life avoiding Edinburgh because of the traumatic memories it stirred up.

“Whenever I saw an Edinburgh Academy school uniform or passed the school, I found that after that I had a series of sleepless nights, nightmares,” he explained.

Kenneth has been contacted in recent weeks by several other former Edinburgh Academy pupils who witnessed or suffered abuse, several of whom have described how they recalled him being targeted.

He said the school was due for a reckoning.

“It’s like a company now that’s vastly wealthy that made all its fortune from the slave trade. They can’t simply deny that past and say, no, no, we didn’t do anything,” he said. “They need to make reparations. They need to seek forgiveness.

“I think the floodgates may open soon,” he added, explaining that he wants a personal apology, compensation and to ensure that such abuse is never repeated.

“It’s nonsense to suggest just a sorry letter is going to make things all right,” he said. “I mean, they blighted my life. It’s cost me many relationships.

“I was a precocious, happy little child until the beatings started. And I turned into this terrified little boy. Home was my refuge and school was just this hell.”

Kenneth added: “I urge anybody, not just those at the academy, but other private schools and indeed any state schools to come forward when you’re ready and tell your story.

“You will be believed now. Don’t be afraid of that, because we all have to act together to ensure that this kind of thing can never, ever happen again.”

In relation to the extradition of the former teacher, South Africa approved the move in 2020. However, he lodged an appeal which is due to be heard in October.

The South African court documents reveal that the original warrant for his extradition related to seven Scottish charges – six of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour and one of indecent assault.

He is alleged to have sexually assaulted four boys at Edinburgh Academy between 1969 and 1973 and to have sexually assaulted three boys at Fettes College between 1974 and 1976.

The ages of the boys mentioned range from seven to 14.

The man is now living in a gated retirement community in Cape Town.

Kenneth’s lawyer, Laura Connor of Thompsons Solicitors, said her client’s bravery along with that of other former Edinburgh Academy pupils, had “exposed a shameful regime of extreme violence and sexual abuse meted out to children.”

Ms Connor said her firm intended to pursue legal action against the school and urged the management “to deal with the cases, act honourably and accept responsibility for this shameful situation”.

In a statement, Edinburgh Academy said it was “appalled by such behaviour” and apologised “wholeheartedly” to those concerned.

“We deeply regret what has happened in the past and would encourage anyone who has been the victim of abuse to contact Police Scotland,” it said.

The school reiterated a previous reassurance that things had changed since the 1970s, insisting it now had robust safeguarding measures in place “with child protection absolutely core to the ethos of the academy.”

The statement added that the school had worked closely with relevant authorities including Police Scotland and the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry and would continue to do so.

Fettes previously said it would be inappropriate to comment on a live case. It has also offered a “full and unreserved apology” to those who suffered abuse while at the school.

Kenneth’s name has been changed to protect his identity.

Information and support for those affected by abuse is available at BBC Action Line.