Edinburgh Academy ignored abuse complaints for decades, inquiry finds

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Inquiry chairwoman Lady Smith found that children were sexually abused by staff over four decades, from the 1950s to the 1980s, and endured physical and emotional abuse.

She said some boarders at the school lived in a “permanent state of fear” and that the institution “failed to look at itself through a realistic and critical lens” for decades.

Broadcaster Nicky Campbell, who attended the school between 1966 and 1978, was among those who gave evidence to SCAI and described being “haunted” in the middle of the night by memories of his schooldays.

Perpetrators of the abuse included teacher Hamish Dawson, who died in 2009, and former housemaster John Brownlee, Lady Smith said.

Edinburgh Academy has reiterated its “sincere apology” to all those affected by abuse at the school and said it is educating its current pupils in a “caring and supportive environment.”

Issuing her findings, Lady Smith said: “When complaints were made, they were either disbelieved or left unresolved.

“Staff chose not to notice and avoided intervention or investigation despite there being obvious signs of abuse.”

She added: “Children were failed, and failed to the extent that there was dreadful abuse.”

In 2024, John Brownlee, then 89, was ruled by a court to have committed “cruel and unnatural acts” of physical and emotional abuse on pupils at the school between 1967 and 1991, but was deemed medically unfit to stand trial and was not sentenced to punishment.

Lady Smith found that homophobia was rife at the academy while racism was prevalent even in the prep school, often involving anti-English sentiment, while some pupils were abused by others because they were Jewish or because of their skin colour.

Girls were subjected to “unpleasant abusive misogyny” after the introduction of co-education in the sixth form.

Lady Smith also found that physical abuse of children was “normalised” at the school and that violence was “part and parcel of an aggressive and rigid culture that persisted into the 1990s.”

A spokesperson for NSPCC Scotland said: “Lady’s Smith’s report on the abuse committed at Edinburgh Academy makes for grim reading.

“It is devastating that teachers were able to exploit their positions of trust and power to emotionally, physically and sexually abuse for decades, often in plain sight, causing profound and lasting harm to those in their care.

“Those who suffered abuse have shown immense courage in giving evidence and helping to expose a culture where children felt unable to speak out, and where abuse was not recognised or acted upon.

“These findings are the latest in a series of reports from the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry that have exposed serious safeguarding failures in institutions across Scotland and highlighted the devastating consequences when children are not listened to and protected.

“It is heartbreaking that so many children were failed for so long. As the Inquiry moves into its final stages, it is vital that its recommendations lead to meaningful and lasting change, with schools and other organisations placing child protection at the heart of their culture, policies and practices.”