Shamed ex-teacher Iain Wares has been warned he could be jailed for indecently assaulting a pupil he once taught. The 87-year-old is also facing extradition from South Africa to Scotland on 93 charges, including rape and sex attacks on 68 boys he taught at two private schools in Edinburgh.
Wares appeared before a magistrate in Cape Town on Friday, using a Zimmer-style rollator instead of his walking stick to reach the dock. He has been dubbed "Scotland's Savile" by TV broadcaster Nicky Campbell, 65, who witnessed Wares abusing classmates at Edinburgh Academy.
Victim's traumatic wait for justice
His victim, a married 49-year-old father-of-two, has endured a traumatic wait for justice since Wares first appeared in court in January 2023. The court previously heard Wares repeatedly indecently assaulted him at age 12, at Rondebosch Boys' School in 1988.
Wares pleaded not guilty but was convicted of indecent assault in March. The case has been adjourned 29 times, and an impact statement from the victim said the verdict wait had caused him "secondary trauma".
Prosecutor Rafeeqa Cornelius read the statement, which said: "Because of the psychiatric problems resulting from the abuse that Mr Wares caused me I have lost jobs and I fear that I may never be fully stably employable again in the future." It added that the abuse had affected his marriage.
Sentencing and extradition proceedings
Adjourning the case to November 30, magistrate Vanessa Miki told Wares: "Be aware you are on warning that you will be sentenced on that day."
First, Wares will appear before Simons Town Magistrates' Court on November 10 over a separate extradition case to Scotland. He faces four rape charges, 60 indecent assault charges, 25 assault charges and a breach of the peace between 1968 and 1979, brought by 65 boys.
The ex-pupils from Fettes College and Edinburgh Academy claim they were aged between eight and 13 when attacked. Wares was already ruled extraditable in 2024 on three indecent assault charges against three boys.
Background and flight from Scotland
South African national Wares fled Scotland in 1980 with his wife Rosemary as boys began to make complaints against him, and he started teaching in Cape Town. After Wares was ruled extraditable in 2019, he wrote to the South African minister of justice admitting he carried out paedophile attacks in Scotland, but said he was too frail to be returned to face trial.
