CHILDREN at a private boarding school were let down by decades of “systemic failures” with house masters free to rule their own “fiefdoms” without oversight, an inquiry has been told.
Between the 1950s and 1990s in particular, boarding pupils at Morrison’s Academy were exposed to school rulers who could discipline them by “whatever means deemed allowable by that house master”, the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry heard yesterday.
The inquiry has heard evidence of pupil-on-pupil sexual abuse as well as physical beatings and emotional torments endured by children at the school in Crieff, Perthshire, which was established in 1860 and was a boarding school until 2007.
Yesterday, its current rector Gareth Warren repeated the school’s “genuine and heartfelt apology” and agreed there had been decades of “systemic failures” in safeguarding children.
He agreed with inquiry counsel Andrew Brown QC that between the 1950s and 1990s across several different boarding houses “there seemed to be fiefdoms in operation with, in effect, no oversight at all”.
Warren told the inquiry: “The very clear emerging theme right through is that the culture in certain boarding schools was one of delegation of duty to instil discipline and order in boarding houses by whatever means deemed allowable by that house master.”
He said delegating discipline had been an “abdication of duties” by schools.
“That manifested very much in physical abuse and underlying that was emotional abuse, having constant fear about what might happen next.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel