Council criticised over teacher sexual abuse claims

Lawyers acting for dozens of former pupils who say they were sexually abused by a school teacher have said they are being denied justice after a local authority declined to accept liability.

Sixty-six people who attended Formby High School on Merseyside are suing Sefton Council, claiming it failed to properly investigate allegations against Ian Farquharson at the council-run school.

The council has settled with 16 of the former pupils but solicitors claim it is refusing to resolve the cases of 50 more.

Sefton Council said: “We are engaged in constructive discussions with the claimants' solicitors. Given that these matters are subject to legal proceedings, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

The former pupils say Farquharson abused them at the school between 1975 and 1992.

He was charged but later cleared of gross indecency in 1980 but is alleged to have continued his abuse for years.

Andrew Grove & Co Solicitors, which is acting for the ex-pupils, said just hours after a complaint was made about him to the then-headmaster, he left the school premises and drove to Mold, North Wales, where he killed himself.

In a hearing at Liverpool County Court, a barrister acting for the local authority stated that the council refuses to admit liability.

Solicitor Katherine Yates said: “The council via their lawyers say that as there was no conviction in the criminal court because of Farquharson’s suicide, they will not be admitting liability for the alleged abuse.

“The absurdity of this argument is that once a person is dead, criminal proceedings cannot be pursued. By killing himself Farquharson gave himself the best defence in the world.

"The wrongful acquittal meant that many more children suffered at his hands.”

One former pupil told the BBC: "I am traumatised by what happened.

"Farquharson made what he was doing sound quite natural. He was the headteacher, I was just a kid what could I do?

“The attitude of the council has left me in despair.

"I really believed that they would have some compassion for everything that we all suffered at that time and that many of us are still suffering.

Ms Yates continued: "Now is the time to resolve these cases. Sefton Council have settled 16 out of 66 why not the rest?

"If not, we are heading to a trial with the council."

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