Nicky Campbell says he feels “crushed” by the abuse he suffered at a top private school as he demanded better support for victims.
The BBC star was beaten by evil John Brownlee when he was a schoolboy at Edinburgh Academy and was in court when the sadistic bully was found to have carried out abuse spanning 20 years. Now Nicky has told the Daily Record that those who suffer abuse in schools and care homes are left scarred for life and require more support to help them lead normal lives.
He has called on the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), currently investigating crimes committed at schools and care homes across the country, to recommend a package of full support for victims as well as cash compensation. In an exclusive interview, the radio and TV broadcaster admitted the abuse he suffered and his fight for justice have left him traumatised.
He said: “At times it has crushed me. The toll on my beloved wife and daughters has been heavy because they have had to pick up the pieces. But it has all been worth it.”
Calling for action to help victims, he said: “I don’t think many people can doubt that there are connections between abuse in childhood and substance addiction, chaotic lifestyles, homelessness, broken marriages and many other negatives in life.
“Organisations that work with the people affected tell us abuse in childhood is a common factor, so maybe the SCAI needs to suggest a research study to confirm those links, and then it might lead to a plan of action.
“The inquiry is giving people a voice, and that’s a good thing, and it will make recommendations aimed at preventing similar abuse in future, but it should also be looking at ways to repair lives already broken.
“We cannot say to people who are leading lives far removed from what they might have been that we now understand it was down to childhood abuse and not offer them help to recover.”
Brownlee, now 89, beat boys with a wooden bat, choked them, ordered them to sit in freezing baths and made them dig in a garden without the proper clothing in cold weather, between 1967 and 1987.
He was deemed unfit to stand trial due to ill health and an examination of facts hearing was held at Edinburgh Sheriff Court, where 32 charges against him were upheld.
Fiscal depute Graeme Clark said one witness had described Brownlee as “a psychopath” who enjoyed handing out the beatings and another had been left “begging for mercy” after curling into a ball to avoid further punishment.
In his judgment, Sheriff Ian Anderson said he found all witnesses “credible and reliable” and found the facts proven on 32 charges including 30 of assault.
Nicky, 62, told the court the abuse started when he was 11 years old and Brownlee was an “arbitrarily violent” man whose mood could turn very quickly.
He recalled how Brownlee had once rained blows on his head like “a knuckle dance down on my skull”.
Last month, after the verdict, Nicky wept on the phone with fellow survivor Neil MacDonald, 55, whose Army career saw him rise to Parachute Regiment major.
Despite Brownlee being found guilty, no sentence was imposed due to dementia-related ill-health.
And Nicky believes that is the correct decision. He said: “It doesn’t matter that he’s not going to jail. The old man is not John Brownlee any more. He is just a shell of the man he was.
“I feel sorry for his family. I can understand their wish to defend his honour, his legacy and his reputation. Dementia is a terrible thing. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.
“I don’t think it would feel comfortable for anyone to see an old man carted off to prison while unable to understand why he’s going there.”
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Nicky said giving evidence in the criminal court had been far more of an ordeal than going in front of the SCAI, where victims’ evidence is accepted largely at face value. Although Brownlee was not in court, he had a defence team working to cast doubt on survivors, and lawyer Andrew Seggie asked repeatedly why they had not told their parents at the time about the abuse they described.
Nicky said: “I got just a tiny glimpse of what it must be like for women in sexual crime cases who have their stories challenged. It really knocks you sideways when someone is telling you they don’t believe you.”
Nicky started exploring the epidemic of abuse at his old school after his wife, the Radio 4 newsreader Tina Ritchie, was listening to a radio programme by journalist Alex Renton, In Dark Corners.
She told him it was about violence at his old school and did he want to listen. He said he went upstairs, “doodled” on his piano, then lay down and started to cry.
At the inquiry Nicky said: “I am a survivor. I am 62.
“But Hamish Dawson’s hands are still in my underwear playing with my penis, John Brownlee’s knuckles are still pummelling my head, and his clachan cracking on to on my backside for no reason.
“I am still in that changing room, three feet from my 10-year-old friend, as Iain Wares leans over his little shoulders and tries to make him aroused.
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“The knock-on effect in all our lives has been horrendous.”
A SCAI spokesman said: “SCAI has heard a wealth of evidence from applicants about how they feel their lives have been adversely affected in the long term as a result of their experiences.
“From time to time, the inquiry commissions independent experts to carry out primary research, or research reviews, to inform the work of the inquiry.”
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