A report into the exclusive Merchiston Castle School has concluded that for 60 years, “abusers were protected by tradition”. Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry chairwoman Lady Smith has published her findings on the provision of residential care at the Edinburgh boarding school, concluding that over almost six decades, there was a “more or less continuous line of indecency” from two named perpetrators.
A boys-only private school has been criticised for a culture which involved “dreadful abuse” of children almost continuously for six decades. The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry report into Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh found that from the 1950s to the second decade of the 21st century, there was a “more or less continuous line of indecency” from two named perpetrators.
A group of survivors who gave evidence on the abuse they suffered at private schools have called on the first minister to dismiss the judge leading the inquiry. Lady Smith, who is chairing the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), has been accused of “thinly veiled favouritism” towards independent schools. The letter, from 28 former pupils, urges John Swinney to remove her from her role.
Lady Smith announces the boarding school phase of the Inquiry beginning July 2020. The Inquiry is expected to focus on Fettes College, Gordonstoun School, Keils School in Dumbarton, Loretto School, Merchiston Castle School, Morrison’s Academy during the time it was a boarding school, and the Queen Victoria School in Dunblaine.
Hearings in 2020 will focus on seven schools including Fettes College, Gordonstoun, Loretto School and Merchiston Castle School. Lady Smith, who leads the inquiry, has urged people affected by abuse in these establishments to contribute evidence. It will come after the current phase on care experiences involving male religious orders.
Some of Scotland’s top private schools are being investigated by a national inquiry into child abuse. Gordonstoun–Prince Charles’s former school–and Fettes College, where Tony Blair was a pupil, feature in the statutory probe. Others include Merchiston Castle and Loretto, Scotland’s oldest boarding school. They are among more than 60 residential care establishments identiifed as sites of alleged child abuse or neglect.
More than 60 residential care establishments for youngsters are being investigated by the team working on Scotland’s national child abuse inquiry. Lady Smith, the inquiry chairwoman, has revealed they are among more than 100 locations where the abuse of children is alleged to have taken place. Boarding schools, institutions run by religious orders and local authorities are among the establishments being probed.
Two men in their sixties, believed to be ex-staff members, have been charged as a result of a police investigation relating to the exclusive Merchiston Castle school in Edinburgh. Based in Colinton in the south west of the city, Merchiston Castle is Scotland’s only all-boys independent boarding school.
