Inquiry finds decades of abuse and failures at Edinburgh Academy

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry found that children at Edinburgh Academy were sexually abused by staff from the 1950s to the 1980s and suffered physical and emotional abuse, while the school failed to respond adequately to complaints. Inquiry chair Lady Smith said the institution prioritised its reputation and allowed abuse to go unaddressed. The Academy reiterated its apology to those affected.

The findings describe a culture in which physical violence was normalised and an aggressive, rigid environment continued into the 1990s. Some boarders lived in what Lady Smith called a permanent state of fear. She said complaints were sometimes disbelieved or left unresolved, and staff failed to intervene or investigate despite signs of abuse.

The inquiry named several staff members among those responsible for abuse, including former housemaster and senior teacher Hamish Dawson, who died in 2009, and former housemaster and junior-school deputy head John Brownlee. It also identified physics teacher William Bain and prep-school teacher Iain Wares. The findings said Dawson’s behaviour was known at the school and that items he used to beat pupils were auctioned when he left.