Loretto School abuse survivor settles landmark legal case

Angus Bell is the first former pupil of Loretto School in East Lothian to successfully recover damages from the high school after breaking his silence on pupil-on-pupil attacks.

Mr Bell, who was a pupil at the elite school during the 1990s, alleged to have suffered repeated physical, sexual and emotional abuse over an eight year period.

He also recalled witnessing extreme violence including kids set on fire, pupils beaten with hockey sticks and cricket bats daily, others whipped with belts, waterboarding in toilets and being thrown down stairs.

It was further alleged that teachers at the school knew about the abuse and either failed to intervene or even take steps to cover it up.

Mr Bell has now settled his legal action via an out of court settlement and in light of this has provided an insightful and moving statement.

Digby Brown is proud to have helped Mr Bell and provide his statement in full.

*please note it contains graphic descriptions of abuse.

STATEMENT FROM ANGUS BELL

“After a 34-year battle for justice this is a monumental victory for children’s welfare.

“What happened at Loretto was a disgrace. It was a madhouse of violence and psychological abuse, rampant with sexualised acts of depravity. Children were locked in trunks and launched down stairs, set on fire, beaten with cricket bats and hockey sticks, dragged from their beds at night and thrown into cold baths on their birthdays, stripped naked and strapped to trees, strangled, crushed under furniture, and subjected to hourly emotional abuse.

“The school knew abuse was happening and all too often chose to look the other way. Finally, outsiders know what happened within those walls. Finally the school has accepted and been held to account.

“The daily abuse I suffered at Loretto, from eight years of unchecked, harrowing peer-on-peer assaults, has been life changing. Thousands of physical and verbal assaults over 2,000 days.

“But this is not just my story. So many other children suffered. In boarding schools across generations and continents, there are hundreds of thousands of victims of abuse.

“Sadly, the effects of abuse don’t stop at the end of attacks. Childhood traumas have ripples that span across adulthood and society: breakdowns, crippling anxiety, suicide attempts, destructive addictions, career implosion, collapsing relationships, domestic and workplace abuse and worse. There’s the initial hurt, then decades down the line it comes bursting out of you and can destroy you. Many victims out there perhaps don't even realise the source of their suffering.

“Horror stories are still emerging from boarding schools across the world. Survivors typically can’t see it or speak about it till their 40s. In an enclosed environment abuse can become completely normalised. They may say, ‘I’m fine,’ on the phone, but can you really be sure what’s happening behind closed doors and thick walls?

“There is still much work to be done. I will continue to support fellow survivors and I plan to write a book about my experiences. It is vital the truth continues to be heard so that current and future generations of children are protected. There is a huge amount more of this story to come out. The scale of depravity and horror is staggering.

“I’ve suffered three decades of post traumatic stress disorder as a result of the abuses, and had my career destroyed. It’s the same part of the brain that reacts if you were to be attacked by a snake. But you can’t turn it off. I receive ongoing therapy and medication to manage that. Unfortunately I will carry scars for life. But I will use this moment to find peace and make good.

“I want to give special thanks to those who had the courage to support me. Dozens of former pupils and staff backed me. Particular praise must go to English teacher David Stock, whose career was terminated for confronting the Loretto authorities about the widespread culture of physical, sexual and psychological abuse in 1991, just five weeks after I started at the school.

“For 34 years, David Stock kept the evidence and fought to expose the horrors at tremendous personal cost. His bravery and tenacity in simply trying to protect children should be honoured. We must always listen to and protect whistleblowers.

“At no point in this five and a half year process, since engaging with the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, have Loretto authorities contacted me to apologise. Several staff members from my time reached out to offer their heartfelt regret. Some said the school ought to be knocked down.

“It is important to mention that not everyone was unkind at Loretto. There were some genuinely caring, hard working and talented teachers and ancillary staff, and some good pupils. I remain friends with several today.

“There will no doubt be deniers. I hope they get the help they need. Not everyone had the same experience. There were the bullies, the punchbags, and the bystanders. But we all saw, and we were all hardwired to have loyalty to our institution.

“In a place of danger, it takes hours for people to turn. What some may call ‘japes’ or ‘normal’, or ‘the making of me’, the rest of the world calls child abuse.

“To the fellow survivors, you may have spent your whole life hiding and suffering in silence, but know that you are now believed and that you now have a legal avenue for justice. This landmark victory opens the door for acknowledgment, apology, and redress.

“I entered Loretto as a tiny, defenceless, 10-year-old boy. I endured eight years of abuse, 34 years of post traumatic stress disorder, four and a half years of legal battle, and in the end, that little boy beat the system.”