Angry..but not surprised

Furious broadcaster brands the tutor who 'threw him around like a rag doll' a coward over inquiry evidence

- MARCELLO MEGA

BROADCASTER Nicky Campbell has hit back at a teacher he accused of battering him "like a rag doll" after he denied the claims.

Nicky, 62, gave shocking evidence to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry last week of his treatment at Edinburgh Academy at the hands of a teachers who sexually and physically abused him.

He claimed one teacher, referred to as "William" for legal reasons, threw him around during one onslaught.

William later gave evidence to the inquiry, claiming he might have "pushed" Nicky but denied attacking him.

Speaking to the Record, Nicky, a member of the Edinburgh Academy Survivors' Group, said the denial had left him furious. But he revealed that police had now launched an investigation into William's alleged attack on him, which he claims was witnessed by other pupils.

Nicky said: "I'm angry but not surprised by his cowardice. His denial is ludicrous given my very clear memory of a few minutes of brutality I can never forget. It also flies in the face of accounts given to me by witnesses." 

Nicky went on to explain his anger with the teacher was partly down to the fact that his mother, Sheila, had fought to hold the school to account, forcing the teacher to apologise and stalling his career for three years.

He told the inquiry last week that violence was so routine during his time at the school, from 1966 to 1978, that it became normalised.

Yet he had managed to keep many beatings, and sexual assaults, by the late history teacher Hamish Dawson secret from his parents.

He said: "When I got home from this brutal assault, I couldn't hide it from my mum. Aged 14, I was so distressed by this beating that I couldn't cover it up. I was still tearful, my shirt was torn.