The parents of a child who had his wrists and ankles bound together with cable ties by a private school teacher have expressed their dismay that he was cleared by a sheriff and is continuing to teach. Richard Robin Greenwood was found guilty of assaulting the seven-year-old boy following a three-day trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court. However, Sheriff Peter McCormack admonished Greenwood and granted him an absolute discharge, saying the court proceedings had been a “lesson learned”.
Greenwood admitted he then realised the “connotations” surrounding the use of cable ties in the game and freed the boy by cutting him loose with scissors. He said: “It was just a game. He was in cable ties for no more than two minutes until I realised the connotations of the game and took them off immediately. I agree it doesn’t sound good and it was a mistake but I never meant any harm.
Greenwood is the lead teacher of chemistry at Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh which is Scotland’s only all-boys independent boarding school. He studied chemistry at Imperial College in London and spent six years working in the agrochemical industry before going into teaching in 2008.
The leader of the Scottish Family Party is suing the private Edinburgh school where he used to teach, accusing it of reneging on a deal over reduced school fees for his sons when he agreed to leave. Richard Lucas was a maths teacher at Merchiston Castle School for 23 years but says the school wanted him to go because it was unhappy about his comments outside school on matters such as abortion, sexuality and transgender issues.
Shamed rugby star Rufus McLean was a poster boy for his former private school, we can reveal. A picture of the domestic abuser playing for Scotland against Tonga was the main image on the hall of fame page on Merchiston Castle’s website… In February 2021, McLean, 22, who left the secondary in 2018, was described as a “first class” role model and interviewed on the site. Pupils were invited to watch a live webcast to hear about his journey “from Merchiston Juniors to the Scotland team”.
A group which campaigns for victims of child abuse have attacked a Scottish sheriff’s decision to give a teacher guilty of indecent exposure an absolute discharge. Helen Holland of the In Care Abuse Survivors Scotland (INCAS) said it was “disgusting” that Gordon Cruden was not adequately punished for the offences at the elite Merchiston Castle school in Edinburgh.
A teacher found guilty of sexual offences at a top private school in Edinburgh is still working in classrooms with children at another school in England.
Gordon Cruden, who taught at the exclusive Merchiston Castle, exposed himself in front of teenage boys at the school but escaped any punishment in December after a trial despite being found guilty.
