Iain Wares, 86, has been accused of abuse by dozens of former pupils of Fettes College and Edinburgh Academy.
16:40, 23 Oct 2025Updated 16:52, 23 Oct 2025
Iain Wares in Cape Town, South Africa
A former school teacher accused of historical sex abuse in Scotland has been arrested in South Africa on a further 90 charges.
Iain Wares, 86, has been accused of abuse by dozens of former pupils of Fettes College and Edinburgh Academy, where he taught maths and rugby during the 1960s and 70s. They include BBC presenter Nicky Campbell.
Wares, who now lives in Cape Town, was told in August last year that he could be extradited on three charges to face trial in Scotland. But the extradition was delayed after UK authorities looked to submit further charges.
The pensioner was taken to Simons Town police station on Wednesday where two interpol officers were waiting. He was charged with four rapes, 60 sexual assaults, 25 assaults and a charge of breach of the peace.
He is said to have abused hundreds of boys as a teacher(Image: BBC Pictures’ Digital Picture Service )
The extradition warrant said that his alleged victims were aged between 8 and 13.
Victims have accused Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College of failing to alert the authorities of complaints against Mr Wares, enabling him to leave for South Africa in 1979, where he taught until his retirement in 2006.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) in Scotland previously said he faces 74 charges.
Prosecutors first requested his extradition in 2018, leading to his arrest in May 2019 on seven charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour.
Wares is currently on trial in Cape Town for allegedly indecently assaulting a 12-year-old boy in 1988 whilst teaching at local Rondebosch Prep School.
He pleads not guilty before magistrates in Wynberg and cannot be returned to the UK until the case returns a verdict as South African court cases have to be heard first.
Wares was ruled extraditable back to Scotland by a magistrate at Simons Town in 2020 after he admitted he had sexually abused his former schoolboys for over a decade.
Nicky Campbell
But then he withdrew his confession and appealed against extradition and while the matter was going through the courts a local schoolboy claimed he was a victim.
Wares was arrested again in 2023 and charged with indecently assaulting the boy – now a married father-of-two aged 48 – in a case that is now nearing a final conclusion.
In August 2024 the disgraced former teachers appeal against extradition was refused at the Western Cape High Court which ruled he could be sent back on 3 of the 7 charges.
The Minister of Justice rubber stamped the decision but he will not be escorted the 6000 miles back to the UK by Police Scotland officers until the local court case is finished.
Advocate Shireen Said, SA Deputy Director General for the Department of Justice, confirmed that they had received a fresh extradition warrant of arrest from the UK.
She said: “The UK request was received by the National Prosecuting Authority on July 24, 2025. The NPA have acted on the fresh arrest warrant under South African law”.
Wares has been on bail since his arrest in 2019 and lives in comfort with wife Rosemary in a retirement village in Fish Hoek just 3 miles from Simons Town police station.
A spokesman for the National Prosecuting Authority said: “Iain Wares appeared before Simons Town magistrates court today where 90 fresh charges were put to him.
“The charges were made under the Extradition Act at the request of UK authorities”.
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