Former headmaster of boarding school convicted

The Independent reports that a former boarding school head will be sentenced today after being convicted of abusing pupils during the seventies and eighties. The 61 year old man was convicted of more than 50 offences. A jury at Ipswich Crown Court found him guilty of sexually and physically assaulting a number of boys aged between eight and thirteen.

 The abuse occurred at St George’s private school, which was initially based in Wicklewood, Norfolk, then moved to Great Finborough, Suffolk in 1980.

Claims for compensation will doubtless follow from the man’s victims. However as the school was private, there will be an issue as to who will be able to pay the compensation. Certainly there would be feasible civil claims against the abuser, even though the claims are probably many years out of time. See the case of A v Hoare 2008 for an example of how someone broke the limitation barrier against their abuser.

In relation to the issue of who will pay the compensation, the school probably had some kind of insurance. However that insurance policy may not cover deliberate acts by school staff. See the case of  KR and Others v Royal and Sun Alliance 2006  where the Court of Appeal dealt with the issue of whether an insurance policy covering a children’s home was capable of indemnifying a compnay where the principal officer was guilty of abusing the children.

The victims of the school might also have a claim to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.