Broadcaster Nicky Campbell broke down in court today as he described being “ragdolled” by a teacher during a savage beating he endured at school 50 years ago.
Radio 5 presenter Campbell, 65, said the incident, which happened in his teens, was the last time he could remember feeling he really needed his mother.
He was giving evidence at Edinburgh Sheriff Court at a hearing into allegations against Colin Turner and David Bourne, retired teachers from his old school, Edinburgh Academy, where he was a pupil.
Both men have been assessed as unfit to stand trial so will face no punishment and were not in court to hear evidence in a findings in fact proceeding.
Campbell recalls attack
Campbell, who has presented a host of television and radio programmes, said he believed the beating occurred in either 1975 or 1976 when he was 14 or 15, and during summer exams when the timetables were altered to fit in with exams.
He said he and a friend had gone to a classroom after lunch where Campbell described feeling himself being yanked from behind.
He said: “I didn’t know at first who it was as I didn’t see him coming. I just felt someone grabbing me near the collar of my shirt, pulling me backwards.
“I was pulled to ground and thrown around, rag-dolled basically. I was then dragged maybe 15 yards to the door of a building where I assume I was supposed to be.
“It was terrifying. I was 14 or 15 years old, skinny and scruffy; he was a large, powerful man, a good athlete, maybe 6’ 2”, powerfully built, with a powerful presence.
“It was utterly terrifying. He had lost control. I felt a closed fist slamming into my back, I was kicked and slapped.
“I had seen him lose it before, but never like that and never with me and I had no idea what I was supposed to have done. I felt awful, distraught, frightened, really terrified of what he might do.”
Moment of realisation
Campbell said he recalled that as his teacher stood over him, with his foot raised, it was like seeing the red mist clear.
He said: “He pushed me down to the ground with his shoe, the way some people kick a door open, and I remember looking up at him and his entire demeanour had changed.”
Campbell needed to pause for a few seconds to gather himself before continuing: “I have a clear memory of him looking down at me and it was as if I could see his face saying: ‘What the f*** have I done?’
“He looked at me and my friend and said ‘Come with me. We’ll talk about this.’”
Campbell said they were taken to the 6th form common room and sat opposite one another, but the teacher had little to say. After a few minutes, he had told Mr Turner he was going home, and the teacher made no effort to stop him.
Mother's response
He told the court that he had kept many beatings and assaults secret from his parents, aware of the sacrifices they made to send him to the top private school, but his mother, a psychiatric social worker, could see he was dishevelled and distressed.
He said: “It’s the last time I can remember thinking I really need my mum. She listened to what had happened, then told me that it would be sorted.
“I know she phoned the school that evening and told them what had happened and I know it was sorted and there were repercussions for him.”
Campbell said that when his mother died, just before Covid, he and his wife, together with his sister and brother-in-law, had shared the upsetting experience of clearing her home.
They had found the correspondence about the incident between his mother and the school, but already distressed by the loss of his mother, he “just could not go there”.
He added: “At that time, I thought the best way to deal with it was to dump it all.”
Campbell will be cross-examined by defence teams acting for the two accused today as the hearing, before Sheriff Matthew Auchincloss, continues.
