Sadistic Edinburgh teacher revealed to have assaulted pupils for 20 years | school

A sadistic vice-principal at one of Scotland's most prestigious private schools has been found to have carried out a systematic campaign of violence and torture against children as young as eight over a 20-year period.

John Brownlee was found by a sheriff on Wednesday to have carried out more than 30 attacks after the former Edinburgh Academy housemaster was formally disqualified from trial because of his advanced insanity.

Instead, the charges against the 89-year-old were heard in a quasi-trial process known as an inquest of facts overseen, without a jury, by Sheriff Ian Anderson, who described the teachers' behavior as extreme criminal bullying.

Brownlee was found guilty of 31 counts of assault and battery in connection with incidents spanning 1969 to 1991, as well as a composite count of cruel and unnatural treatment during the 20 years he worked as a teacher at the academy.

In a case based entirely on survivor testimony, the Brownlees' victims, who spoke out half a century after the attacks, gave chilling testimony to the arbitrary and senseless nature of the violence they endured as children, many of whom were boarded outside the home for hours on end. first.

The men characterized Brownlee as a sadist and a psychopath who relished the pain he caused and the horror of waiting for it.

The teacher was known for using the clackan, a wooden stick that he used to hit their behinds with repeated force, but also punched, kicked and choked the children in his care often without provocation.

Witnesses, including BBC journalist and broadcaster Nicky Campbell, told how Brownlee enjoyed creating an atmosphere of random violence and humiliation.

A former boarding student recalls that Brownlee had a klacken with a smiley face on one side, a sad one on the other. He would casually spin it in the air in class if a boy caught his eye; if he sat down with a sad face, the boy would be spanked.

Sheriff Ian Anderson noted that we now understand there can be many reasons why people may delay reporting something they say happened to them as a child, pointing out that just because there was a delay does not says the evidence can't be right.

Speaking on behalf of the Edinburgh Academy Survivors Group, many of whom had attended Edinburgh sheriff court to hear the verdict in person, Graeme Sneddon spoke of his relief that justice had been done.

Describing Brownlee as a sadistic, evil and violent monster, Sneddon continued: This happened in a primary school where he was known to be extremely violent towards pupils and yet nothing was done to protect them as he was deputy director and others. the teachers were afraid of him.

The Brownlees' violence has taken an incalculable toll on those affected, Sneddon said, adding: Today's decision after almost three weeks of evidence and a year of police investigations sends a strong signal that the law will one day catch up with anyone who abuses children.

The academy has come under increasing scrutiny over the past year after former pupils gave their evidence of alleged physical, sexual and psychological abuse there to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry.

Responding to the decision, the school's current rector Barry Welsh reiterated his apologies to all those affected by the historic abuse, first made during the inquest hearings.

Welsh said: Our commitment to confronting the mistakes of the past remains unwavering. Many former pupils have shown incredible courage in giving evidence over the years and we would like to reiterate our apologies to all those affected by any abuse that has taken place at our school. Our door is always open to anyone who wants to discuss their experiences.

Welsh, who attended the inquest hearings and many days of the court hearing, has commissioned Philip Dundas, himself a survivor of school abuse, to write a book based on interviews with abuse survivors, giving their accounts, called Breaking the Silence.

At least five other former staff are facing charges related to the historic abuse at the school following their arrest last December.

The charges, which follow a lengthy policy investigation and are informed by evidence presented before the inquiry, relate to incidents of abuse alleged to have taken place at the school between 1968 and 1992.