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.
A man who was jailed for 18 months in 2015 for sexually assaulting young boys 30 years ago has been found to have carried out further acts in the 1990s. While Torquil Charles Johnson Ferguson, of Solwaybank, Chapel Knowe, Canonbie, was unfit to stand trial, an examination of the facts hearing went ahead last week in Oban Sheriff Court.
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.
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.
A businessman convicted of indecent practices with young boys at an activity centre on an island in the Firth of Lorn has been jailed. Torquil Johnson-Ferguson, 65, from Canonbie in Dumfries and Galloway, abused three boys aged 13 or under at the Rua Fiola centre.
The owner of a children’s adventure holiday island was jailed for 18 months yesterday after a sheriff ruled he had “abused his position of power” when he groped young boys in his care. Oban Sheriff Court heard Torquil Johnson-Ferguson suffered a heart attack after he was convicted of abusing three youngsters who attended his outdoor courses in the 1980s.
An adventure island owner accused of abusing boys told a court there was “nothing devious” about him changing his appearance before an identity parade. Torquil Johnson-Ferguson, of Solwaybank, Chapel Knowe, Canonbie, in Dumfriesshire, had his long hair cut before the line-up his trial at Oban Sheriff Court was told earlier.
A witness in a child sex abuse trial yesterday denied making up an allegation that he was groped by the leader of a summer camp because he was “awestruck” by his alleged attacker. The man, now aged 44, told Oban Sheriff Court he was abused by Torquil Johnson-Ferguson, 65, the owner of a west coast adventure island, more than 30 years ago.
A man has been accused of sexually abusing boys over a 30-year period on a remote island near Oban. The case against Torquil Johnson-Ferguson, 65, of Solwaybank, Chapel Knowe, Canonbie, Dumfries and Galloway, called at Oban Sheriff Court yesterday.
SUMMER school director Torquil Johnson-Ferguson, 65, who ran the Rua Fiola centre on the island of Lunga, off the west coast of Scotland, has resigned.
Torquil Johnson-Ferguson owns the island of Lunga and has been charged with ‘lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour’ The owner of a Scottish island who organised summer activities for youngsters has been charged with child sex offences, reports the Sunday People.
A TEACHER found dead as police investigated claims of “inappropriate conduct” towards pupils left £1 million to the private boys school where he worked. James Rainy Brown, 75, who had taught for 52 years at Edinburgh’s Merchiston Castle School, hanged himself at his home after being told of the inquiry into his alleged actions.
