A former boarding school teacher allegedly "orchestrated" the rape of a pupil by an older schoolboy, a court has heard. Derek Barker, 92, denies eight sexual offences against four boys at Monkton Combe School in Bath, Somerset, during his time as a teacher there in the 1970s and 1980s.
Bristol Crown Court heard live evidence from the first complainant in the case on Wednesday. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told officers in a video interview shown to jurors on Tuesday that he had been instructed to attend Barker's flat by a fellow pupil.
Upon his arrival, an older boy was already there and directed the complainant to remove his trousers so he could massage his leg, before then removing his underwear, he said.
Complainant's account of the alleged assault
"I was terrified by this time, I couldn't believe what was happening, especially not with a teacher there," the man told police. "I couldn't, I didn't understand why. I sound stupid really saying about that, but I didn't comprehend it. I was so surprised, so unexpected and so out of my depth and after a bit the boy took his clothes off and he proceeded to rape me."
"It hurt and I was frightened, I knew it was wrong but there was nothing I could do. I could see Mr Barker was enjoying himself. He was masturbating while he watched this."
The man stated that Barker subsequently instructed him to get dressed and return to his lessons, which he did. He further informed police that the abuse was repeated on several occasions.
Charges and defence response
Barker is charged with three counts of buggery, relating to him allegedly "aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring" the buggery of the complainant by the older boy – who died before police launched an investigation. The charge relates to the law at the time, which pre-dates the 2003 Sexual Offences Act.
Tabitha Macfarlane, defending Barker, stated that he denies being present at the incidents, and denies claims that he masturbated or orchestrated the events.
The man informed the court on Wednesday: "It took place in his flat in the school. I couldn't have been there – it was a private flat – unless I had been invited and nor would [the older pupil] have been there unless he had been invited. How could these two boys have been in his flat if he hadn't given an invitation? It doesn't stand up to scrutiny."
Complainant's reasoning and impact
When quizzed about earlier accounts he had provided regarding the alleged abuse, in which Barker was not mentioned, the man responded: "He wasn't abusing me. He was present and he built the setting, made it possible, so I would say orchestrated it, but he didn't do anything physically to me. It would have been dishonest to say that he had. I don't think it is right to suggest anything which isn't true. He facilitated it by allowing it to happen in his private flat within the school, but it was not him that did anything to me."
The man, who reported the incident to police in 2022, told jurors he had wanted an apology from Barker, but had not received one. "I didn't want to go to the police, I didn't want a court case like this, I didn't want more trauma for me and no doubt anyone else who is involved," he said. "I have lived with the effects all my life, I didn't want to have salt rubbed into the wound. I just wanted acknowledgment."
Barker stepped down from the school during the 1980s, claiming poor health, after he had allegedly asked another pupil to tie him to a bed wearing just his underwear. The jury heard that the pupil photographed Barker, with the image later developed in the school's photographic lab and removed by another teacher.
Barker, from Limpley Stoke, Somerset, denies three counts of buggery, three counts of indecency with a child, and two counts of indecent assault. The trial, presided over by Judge Euan Ambrose, continues.
