Name: David Hawkins
Title: Litigation Executive - Historic Abuse
Email: david.hawkins@verisonalaw.com
Telephone: 023 9224 6757
The BBC presenter Nicky Campbell has today revealed he was the victim of abuse by a teacher at a Scottish private school, the Edinburgh Academy, in the 1970s. Campbell, also revealed that whilst he was at the school he witnessed incidents of both sexual and physical abuse at the school that had had a “profound effect” on his life
During the podcast, he discloses the abuse for the first time, with journalist Alex Renton, the creator of the radio programme “In Dark Corners”, which discusses abuse at Britain’s private schools.
In an interview he says “I was badly beaten up at school by a teacher who was a leading light in the Scripture Union. My mother took it as far as she could and got a grovelling apology from [his abuser], but was essentially stonewalled and it was hushed up by the school. Those were different times and that has stayed with me all my life.”
Campbell also revealed that he witnessed sexual abuse of his schoolmates at the hands of a different member of staff at the school. He says
“I cannot describe it here and I can never unsee it. This man was known to us all as a predator and a sadist but we never told anyone. My school friends and I talk about it now with each other with, again, contempt, disbelief and incomprehension that sort of thing happened in plain sight and nothing was done. And why didn’t we as little boys tell anyone in power what was happening? I don’t know.”
David Hawkins, a specialist Child Abuse lawyer with Verisona Law said “This is sadly something that was not uncommon in fee paying schools particularly in the 1970’s. The members of staff who preyed on children often acted in a culture of impunity and knew that children would not come forward for fear of not being believed. Nicky Campbell has taken a brave step in coming forward about his own abuse and I hope this will empower others to do the same.”
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