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Child Sexual Abuse inquiry judge urged to investigate #Dunblane boarding school #CSA #QVS

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Abuse inquiry judge urged to investigate Dunblane boarding school

March 5 2017, 12:01am

The Sunday Times

 Anne Smith is chairwoman of the Scottish child abuse inquiryl

The judge at the helm of an historic child abuse review in Scotland is being urged to investigate a top private school with links to the royal family.

Glenn Harrison, a former housemaster at Dunblane’s Queen Victoria School (QVS), has raised fresh concern that pupils were sexually abused by a paedophile ring during the 1980s and 1990s. He first blew the whistle 26 years ago but has written to Lady Anne Smith, chairwoman of the Scottish child abuse inquiry, making a new case for its inclusion in her review.

The prestigious school, attended by children of Scottish servicemen and women, did not feature on a list published in January that detailed more than 60 establishments under investigation.

The omission has raised eyebrows in legal circles and among child abuse campaigners who believe that there is a prima facie case for fresh examination of Harrison’s claims.

The Sunday Times understands that discussions about the school’s inclusion arose shortly after ministers announced the inquiry in October 2015. It was argued that as the independent boarding school is funded by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), it might fall within the remit of a mirror inquiry running in England and Wales.

On Friday, a spokesman for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse said its remit was to consider institutional failure to protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation in England and Wales. Although the inquiry can consider failures by English and Welsh institutions outside those two countries, it said there are “no current plans to investigate issues” relating to Queen Victoria School.

The admission has prompted fresh calls for Lady Smith to include the Dunblane school in her abuse inquiry, particularly in light of Harrison’s approach. Simon Collins, a lawyer representing the charity In Care Abuse Survivors, said: “My view is that if abuse is alleged to have taken place in Scotland, then it should be considered as part of the Scottish inquiry.”

One lawyer, who asked not to be named, said it was “disgraceful” that QVS was not among the institutions named in January, which included leading private schools such as Gordonstoun and Fettes. However, a spokeswoman for the inquiry said more establishments in Scotland could yet be investigated.

Queen Victoria School, which counts the Duke of Edinburgh as its patron, has been dogged by claims that pupils were abused by high-ranking government officials since Harrison raised concern in a letter to parents in 1991.

At the time, he was convinced that young boys were in danger and claimed that a group known as Friends of QVS would often take boys away for the weekend, with the pupils returning “distressed but flush with cash”.

It was later claimed that Thomas Hamilton, the man who carried out the Dunblane massacre in 1996, was a paedophile who had close ties to the school. Several investigations, by the police and the now-defunct Scottish Schools Inspectorate, failed to find evidence to support Harrison’s concerns.

A spokeswoman from the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, said: “We are currently undertaking over 60 investigations into individual establishments. We will announce further investigations in due course. The fact that a particular establishment was not mentioned at the preliminary hearing does not mean that it will not be investigated. We would encourage anyone with relevant evidence to come forward and share their experience.”

The MoD and QVS declined to comment.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/scotland/abuse-inquiry-judge-urged-to-investigate-dunblane-boarding-school-c8fztvwls  https://archive.is/pIE9B

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