Former master at London school accused of abuse

The BBC reports that a former master at a London school has appeared at the Old Bailey accused of sexually assaulting pupils. The man has pleaded not guilty to the offences. The charges date back to the 1980s when he was working at St Paul’s Cathedral Choir School in the City of London.

In the case of Lister v Hesley Hall 2001 former residents of a children’s home were assaulted by the warden. The House of Lords decided that his employers could be vicariously liable for those assaults. This case has been followed by another more recent case, MAGA v Archdiocese of Birmingham 2010 where the Court of Appeal decided that a boy abused by a Catholic priest could sue his employers, even though he himself was not a Catholic.

See our article on the issue of vicarious liability for foster carers, published in the Solicitors Journal.