Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry told of Perthshire boarding school beatings

Former pupils of a private boarding school said teachers took "delight" in caning children, the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry has been told.

The inquiry also heard that one ex-student of Morrison's Academy in Crieff, Perthshire was beaten so severely his wrist was broken.

Another, now aged in his 70s, said beatings from a teacher "still disturb me" more than half a century later.

The inquiry is examining alleged historical abuse in boarding schools.

Seven Scottish institutions are being investigated as part of the inquiry.

Its latest session heard experiences of former pupils of Morrison's Academy, established in 1860 and a boarding school until 2007.

Most of the evidence was given anonymously.

One ex-student said he was tormented by a more senior pupil who threatened to brand him with a red-hot poker and stubbed out a cigarette on his bare skin.

Alasdair Liddle, who joined Morrison's in 1950, described having his tooth knocked out after he was forced into a boxing match with another new student.

He told how a house captain heated a poker in the stove until it was red hot "then approached me menacingly until the poker was inches from my nose".

In a statement read to the inquiry by staff, he went on: "He removed one of his slippers and took out the insole and said 'eat that or I will brand you'."

Another boy, given the pseudonym Robert, now in his 70s, said in a statement that "some teachers took delight in punishing children", and that he had his wrists cut after being lashed with a belt.

He told how when he was around 12 or 13, a boy in his class had his wrist broken after a caning by a French teacher who was thereafter banned from using belts for punishment.

Robert added: "He was an extremely violent teacher who used a thick Perspex ruler.

"The beatings I took from that man still disturb me."

Another boy at the school in the 1950s and 60s told how one of his housemasters was a former colonial policeman and "not the best choice for childcare".

In a statement read to the inquiry, he went on: "In the 1950s there was a primary school teacher with a reputation for inappropriate behaviour who would ask pupils to stay behind after class.

"One had to be smart to avoid his wandering hands. Those were the days when children telling adults was unheard of."

The inquiry continues.