Man who claims abuse at Edinburgh Academy looks former teacher 'in the eye'

A former pupil of Edinburgh Academy who claims he was abused by a teacher in the 1970s has travelled to South Africa to look the man “in the eye”.
By Alison Campsie
Published 15th Apr 2023, 13:43 BST
Updated 15th Apr 2023, 13:44 BST

Neil Douglas, 60 said he burst into tears seeing Iain Wares again, 50 years after he last saw him in the classroom at the prestigious school.

Wares, 83, is facing two charges of sexual assault at a Cape Town school and is also fighting extradition to Scotland over charges relating to his time teaching at Fettes College and Edinburgh Academy in the 1960s and 70s.

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Mr Douglas travelled to Cape Town as part of a BBC Panorama documentary to see Wares at Wynberg Magistrate's Court.

He told BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime programme that he "recoiled backwards" seeing him for the first time since his school days.

Mr Douglas said: "I just burst into tears. It was entirely overwhelming.

"I think I was a 10-year-old boy crying, then I was a 60-year-old man crying for my 10-year-old self, then I was crying for all the others who he abused over the years. It was incredibly moving."

Mr Douglas, now a flying instructor in England, attended Edinburgh Academy from 1967 to 1979. He was in Iain Wares' class in 1972 where he says he and his classmates suffered physical and sexual abuse.

BBC presenter Nicky Campbell is one of several former pupils who have made allegations about him.

Mr Douglas told the BBC: “I think the thing we all struggle with is that we are not believed.

"With some of the articles that have been out recently, there's been trolls saying nothing happened or you are over-exaggerating it.

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"So I think closure for us is that our story is believed. That probably means the court in South Africa finding him guilty and therefore at least we will be validated."

An UK extradition request for Wares to face charges in a Scottish court was approved in 2020 but the process has been delayed by an appeal against the decision.

Mr Douglas said the extradition process has been "ridiculously slow".

He told the broadcaster: "He is living in a beautiful gated community in quite a luxurious environment, when he should be held in a South African prison awaiting extradition appeal.

"I feel reasonably hopeless about it. I wouldn't have come all this way if I thought I was going to see him in Scotland facing trial."