Call for Gordonstoun to fund mental health support for abused pupils

A former pupil has said the elite Gordonstoun school should set up a trust to help those who suffered abuse access mental health treatment.

He said the boarding school should take responsibility for abuse he and others suffered at Aberlour House in Moray.

It was then considered a prep school for Gordonstoun. The schools have since merged.

John Findlay told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry he was sexually abused by a teacher in 1990 at the age of 12.

The inquiry is currently looking at allegations of abuse in boarding schools.

Mr Findlay - who waived his right to anonymity - told the inquiry he was boarding at Aberlour House when, after a rugby match, he needed painkillers.

He said an English teacher gave him what he thought was medicine and soon after the man came into his dormitory and sexually abused him.

Mr Findlay told the inquiry he could not move or speak during the attack but was conscious of what was happening.

When he confronted the teacher later, he said he was told he must have imagined what happened because of the pain relief he had been given.

The matter was taken up with a senior official at the school and Mr Findlay said he understood that his parents agreed not to pursue police action after being assured the man would never teach again.

He said he discovered the man went on to teach in England where he ended up leaving in similar circumstances. After that, he went to teach at a school in Kenya.

The man has now died.

Mr Findlay said he still suffers from severe anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Mr Findlay said his parents regretted not pursuing police action, and he feels the police should have investigated irrespective of his parents' and the school's thoughts.

He told the BBC he did not blame his parents or the school but that his abuser should have been prosecuted.

"The fact he went on to teach and abuse other individuals is disgusting," he added.

Mr Findlay called on Gordonstoun to set up a trust to fund mental health support for former pupils who have survived abuse.

He said: "Gordonstoun has the opportunity here to stand up and do the right thing and that is to look after former pupils by providing care and medical attention that's needed and prescribed with regards to mental illnesses."

Aberlour House and Gordonstoun had links but were separate legal entities until they merged in 1999.

The school has previously offered "a very sincere apology to anyone who has suffered abuse either at Gordonstoun or Aberlour House".

He is due to meet the current principal of Gordonstoun to discuss the issue next month.

Another witness, referred to only as Paul to protect his anonymity, told the inquiry that Gordonstoun did not listen when abuse was reported in 1989.

The former pupil - who says he was groomed by another teacher, later convicted of child sex abuse - told the inquiry if Gordonstoun had listened then the abuse might not have happened.

Paul said this teacher abused him when he was a teenager, after the teacher formed a friendship with him.

In 2018, the teacher was jailed for grooming several pupils at Gordonstoun. He was freed after six months.

Paul told the inquiry he had almost never spoken to anyone else about the abuse he suffered at Gordonstoun throughout his adult life, but decided to speak to the police after hearing the teacher's conduct towards other pupils was being investigated.

He said: "I couldn't let someone stand up alone and go through all that."

Paul said that initially his relationship with the teacher was like a friendship, and he would take part in activities the teacher ran.

He said other children warned him that the teacher could be "handsy".

At one point, he invited Paul to the school's swimming pool. Paul said that when he arrived the teacher removed his swimming costume and invited Paul to do the same, though he decided to leave.

During another incident, Paul said the teacher groped him as he was playing a computer game.

Paul told the inquiry: "I tried to block it out, I can literally still see the screen in front of me... it's crystal clear."

During his evidence session on Tuesday, Paul said he was aware of at least five other victims, three of whom were involved in the criminal case against the teacher.

He said: "The most distressing, critical failure at the time was that Gordonstoun didn't listen to someone who reported abuse at the start of 1989.

"Had they listened, potentially the abuse that happened to me would not have happened."

Paul, who is now in his 40s, said the abuse he suffered at Gordonstoun had affected the rest of his life.

The inquiry is due to hear evidence from Gordonstoun's current principal, Lisa Kerr, again later this week.

Ms Kerr gave evidence to the inquiry in March and apologised on behalf of the school to those who had suffered abuse, saying: "I'd like to offer a very sincere apology to anyone who has suffered abuse either at Gordonstoun or Aberlour House."

The inquiry, before Judge Lady Smith, continues.