Chaplain ‘fed pupil wine and oysters before groping him’

THE chaplain of a top private school molested a pupil while discussing the arts and teaching him how to be “posh”, a court has heard.

As part of his advice on etiquette, Gary Dobbie is also said to have urged the young teenage boy to wear silk boxer shorts because that was what “posh people” wore.

The 67-year-old is standing trial after denying three counts of indecent assault between 1986 and 1991 while a teacher and chaplain at Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham, West Sussex.

His alleged victim gave evidence at Hove Crown Court yesterday, telling jurors it was “habitual” for him to be groped by Dobbie during night visits to his on-site lodgings where he was given wine and once fed oysters.

Dobbie, who now lives in France, preferred to smoke cigars but would buy Turkish cigarettes for his pupil, the jury heard. He is also accused of assaulting the boy on two school trips.

Describing the chaplain as “a very civilised man” who loved indulging in the grandeur of high church traditions, the man said visiting Dobbie was an “escape” from being bullied by “tougher, larger, older, alpha male boys”.

The court heard Dobbie would grope the boy beneath his school shirt while they sat alone. The man said: “(While he was doing this) he was talking about philosophy, art or classical music.

“It happened many, many times ... it became habitual.”

Jurors heard how Dobbie and other single male house masters would organise parties where champagne was served and the best-looking boys were picked to be waiters. They were allowed to drink and smoke but had to serve while wearing cycling shorts.

The trial continues.