Ex-private school pupils tell how staff 'delighted' in caning children

Ex-Morrison’s Academy pupils tell how staff in 1950s ‘delighted’ in caning children with one boy beaten so badly his wrist was broken, Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry hears

• One pupils, now in his 70s, said the beatings ‘still disturb me’ half a century later
• Alasdair Liddle had a tooth knocked out after being forced into a boxing match
• He was plagued by older pupil who threatened to brand him with red-hot poker 

Former pupils at a private boarding school have told how staff in the 1950s ‘delighted’ in caning children, with one boy beaten so badly his wrist was broken. 

One ex-student of Morrison’s Academy in Crieff, Perthshire, told a Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry how 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.

Another, now aged in his 70s, said beatings endured from an ‘extremely violent’ teacher ‘still disturb me’ more than half a century later.

The evidence, most given anonymously, came during Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry proceedings, which is examining alleged abuse in Scottish boarding schools.

The experiences of former pupils of Morrison’s Academy, established in 1860 and a boarding school until 2007, were examined at the inquiry today.

One ex-student of Morrison’s Academy in Crieff, Perthshire (pictured), told a Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry how 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 he was plagued by an older pupil, and house captain, who ‘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’.

‘With this red-hot poker inches from my face I tossed this disgusting object into my mouth.

Inquiry previously told it is ‘not fair’ to single out boys-only schools when examining ‘predatory culture’ 

The headteacher of an independent boarding school for boys has told an inquiry that it is ‘not fair’ to single out boys-only schools when examining a ‘predatory culture’.  

Jonathan Anderson, head of the £3,500-a-year Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh, told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) that the issue affected all schools across the UK.

Mr Anderson said the school had undertaken the ‘harrowing’ process of a full review of historical files and accepts there may have been abuse between 1930, when the school moved to its current site in Colinton, and 2014. 

Counsel to the inquiry, Andrew Brown QC, questioned him on recent media reports of a ‘predatory culture’ that boys’ schools can produce. 

Mr Anderson, who took up his role at Merchiston in 2018 after a 20-year career teaching at boarding schools in England, said: ‘I think it is an issue across all schools.

‘I think it’s unfair to single out boys’ schools as I think it’s a societal issue.

‘I think it’s about how we educate young men, and we take that responsibility very seriously.

‘Being able to have a frank discussion with them in a boys-only space is very healthy in that regard.

‘To say it’s only an issue for boys’ schools is not fair.’           

‘He also stubbed out a cigarette on my bare leg under my kilt. I had an excruciating scar afterwards for a long time.

‘My saddest memory was the total absence of help from the prefects, I assume they were terrified of the house captain too.’

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 not allowed to use the belt after that so he had a habit of picking boys up by the hair and kicking their shins.

‘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.

‘Worryingly, the teacher also became a cub master. Quite suddenly he failed to return after a Christmas holiday.

‘Word got out the school had found out about his proclivities.’

He said he did not see any evidence of sexual abuse taking place.

Another boy, given the pseudonym Wallace, now 85, told how a girl got married aged 18 to a teacher at the school who was around two decades her senior, and who she had ‘become involved with when she was still at school’.

Last month, Gareth Warren, rector at Morrison’s Academy, apologised to all former pupils who suffered abuse ‘whether that be physical, emotional or sexual’.

He said: ‘I am fully aware of the damage that abuse inflicts on children and young adults and the lasting harm and debilitating effect it can have and the fear it creates on a day-to-day basis.

‘As a school, we view the inquiry as important to give a voice to those who suffered abuse but also as an opportunity to learn from.

‘It is very difficult and challenging to hear of our failings, and to understand the pain it caused.’

The inquiry was told in March how the headteacher of another independent boarding school for boys that is was ‘not fair’ to single out boys-only schools when examining a ‘predatory culture’.  

Jonathan Anderson, head of the £3,500-a-year Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh, told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) that the issue affected all schools across the UK.

Jonathan Anderson, headteacher at Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh (pictured), told the inquiry in March that it was ‘not fair’ to single out boys-only schools when looking into ‘predatory culture’

Mr Anderson said the school had undertaken the ‘harrowing’ process of a full review of historical files and accepts there may have been abuse between 1930, when the school moved to its current site in Colinton, and 2014. 

Counsel to the inquiry, Andrew Brown QC, questioned him on recent media reports of a ‘predatory culture’ that boys’ schools can produce. 

Mr Anderson, who took up his role at Merchiston in 2018 after a 20-year career teaching at boarding schools in England, said: ‘I think it is an issue across all schools.

‘I think it’s unfair to single out boys’ schools as I think it’s a societal issue.

‘I think it’s about how we educate young men, and we take that responsibility very seriously.’

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