Nicky: Violent teacher beat me with a paddle
Broadcaster relives school ordeals in court
RADIO and TV presenter Nicky Campbell yesterday told a court he was hit with a wooden paddle by a teacher at a public school in the 70s and 80s.
The BBC broadcaster said his form teacher at Edinburgh Academy, John Brownlee, physically abused him from the age of 11.
He gave evidence during an examination of facts hearing after Brownlee, now 89, was deemed unfit to stand trial.
Nicky, 62, was a pupil at the school from age five until 17 – 1966 to 1978 – and Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard at first he liked Brownlee but found him an “arbitrarily violent” man whose mood could turn quickly.
He described an incident when he said he was forced to the ground in a corridor while Brownlee performed a “knuckle dance”, pummelling his neck and skull for about 20 seconds.
Nicky also told how he and other pupils were made to bend over the teacher’s desk and were struck with an 18-inch wooden paddle called a clacken, which was used in a school ball game.
Nicky demonstrated its use and force in court and said the pain was “awful”.
The BBC Radio 5Live presenter said he struggled with mental health challenges in later life as a result of the abuse he suffered.
In his evidence, he also recalled an incident in which Brownlee inflicted a beating using a table tennis bat.
Nicky said he began winking at his classmates, who started laughing, which he called a “glorious moment of defiance”.
Last year Brownlee was accused of mistreating 38 pupils between 1967 and 1987 but was deemed medically unfit to stand trial. An examination of the facts hearing is being held with no jury.