>#MP names ex-Edinburgh Academy teacher accused of sexual abuse
>Marc Horne
>Tuesday January 17 2023, 12.01am GMT, The Times
>A retired teacher accused by the BBC broadcaster Nicky Campbell of being a paedophile has been named in the House of Commons as Iain Wares.
>Dozens have alleged that the former maths teacher and rugby coach molested them during his time at Edinburgh Academy and nearby Fettes College in the 1960s and 1970s.
>Until now he has only been referred to as “Edgar” after the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry passed an order forbidding individuals who have been accused, but not convicted, of abuse from being named. Wares, 82, who is living in his native South Africa, was unmasked after the SNP’s Ian Blackford used parliamentary privilege, which provides legal immunity for MPs and peers speaking in the Commons or Lords, to name him.
>“I have a number of constituents who are complainants against ‘Edgar’,” said Blackford, the MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, during a debate on education. “It is important that others who were abused by this man can come forward . . . it is for this reason that it is in the public interest that the real name of ‘Edgar’ — that is, Iain Wares — is now publicly known.”
>A legal representative for Wares declined to comment yesterday when asked if his client denied or admitted the abuse allegations.
Campbell was among those who had called on Blackford to name the former private school master. When his identity was made known in South Africa last year, Campbell said: “Life is now going to be extremely uncomfortable for him. I’m struggling to sympathise.”
>Another former Edinburgh Academy pupil said yesterday: “I cried as Blackford said Wares’s name.”
>Wares previously told the high court in Cape Town that he moved to Scotland in 1967 to receive treatment from a psychiatrist after admitting his attraction to young boys. After training to become a teacher he worked at Edinburgh Academy, one of the country’s most prestigious private schools, before moving to Fettes — the alma mater of Sir Tony Blair — in 1973. He returned to South Africa, where he continued to teach, in 1979.
>In 2020 an order was signed to extradite Wares to Britain, where he faces six charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour and one charge of indecent assault. However, last week the BBC reported that a fresh abuse complaint had been made relating to his time at a boys’ school in Cape Town in the 1990s. Survivors believe an imminent South African investigation will make it extremely unlikely that he will ever stand trial in Scotland and, as such, wanted his identity made public.
>Fettes has issued a “full and unreserved apology to anyone who suffered abuse”. Edinburgh Academy said: “We deeply regret what has happened in the past and would encourage anyone who has been the victim of abuse to contact Police Scotland.”
>The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scotland’s public prosecutor, said: “In order to protect any future proceedings and to preserve the rights of the complainers, the Crown will not comment further at this stage.”
1 comment
>#MP names ex-Edinburgh Academy teacher accused of sexual abuse
>Marc Horne
>Tuesday January 17 2023, 12.01am GMT, The Times
>A retired teacher accused by the BBC broadcaster Nicky Campbell of being a paedophile has been named in the House of Commons as Iain Wares.
>Dozens have alleged that the former maths teacher and rugby coach molested them during his time at Edinburgh Academy and nearby Fettes College in the 1960s and 1970s.
>Until now he has only been referred to as “Edgar” after the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry passed an order forbidding individuals who have been accused, but not convicted, of abuse from being named. Wares, 82, who is living in his native South Africa, was unmasked after the SNP’s Ian Blackford used parliamentary privilege, which provides legal immunity for MPs and peers speaking in the Commons or Lords, to name him.
>“I have a number of constituents who are complainants against ‘Edgar’,” said Blackford, the MP for Ross, Skye and Lochaber, during a debate on education. “It is important that others who were abused by this man can come forward . . . it is for this reason that it is in the public interest that the real name of ‘Edgar’ — that is, Iain Wares — is now publicly known.”
>A legal representative for Wares declined to comment yesterday when asked if his client denied or admitted the abuse allegations.
Campbell was among those who had called on Blackford to name the former private school master. When his identity was made known in South Africa last year, Campbell said: “Life is now going to be extremely uncomfortable for him. I’m struggling to sympathise.”
>Another former Edinburgh Academy pupil said yesterday: “I cried as Blackford said Wares’s name.”
>Wares previously told the high court in Cape Town that he moved to Scotland in 1967 to receive treatment from a psychiatrist after admitting his attraction to young boys. After training to become a teacher he worked at Edinburgh Academy, one of the country’s most prestigious private schools, before moving to Fettes — the alma mater of Sir Tony Blair — in 1973. He returned to South Africa, where he continued to teach, in 1979.
>In 2020 an order was signed to extradite Wares to Britain, where he faces six charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour and one charge of indecent assault. However, last week the BBC reported that a fresh abuse complaint had been made relating to his time at a boys’ school in Cape Town in the 1990s. Survivors believe an imminent South African investigation will make it extremely unlikely that he will ever stand trial in Scotland and, as such, wanted his identity made public.
>Fettes has issued a “full and unreserved apology to anyone who suffered abuse”. Edinburgh Academy said: “We deeply regret what has happened in the past and would encourage anyone who has been the victim of abuse to contact Police Scotland.”
>The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scotland’s public prosecutor, said: “In order to protect any future proceedings and to preserve the rights of the complainers, the Crown will not comment further at this stage.”