Guilty, Gordonstoun teacher in naked sex abuse of pool pupils
Master groomed boys at Prince Charles’ old school
A RETIRED teacher was yesterday found guilty of carrying out a string of sexual offences against boys at one of Scotland’s most prestigious boarding schools.
Andrew Keir, 67, taught physics at Gordonstoun, Prince Charles’s alma mater, from 1983 to 1994.
Keir was accused of stripping naked, chasing pupils and indecently assaulting them at the Moray school’s pool.
At Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday, he was found to have abused his position of power by performing a ‘classic type of grooming behaviour’.
Gordonstoun, where yearly fees top £36,000, has issued an apology, saying ‘the school’s response at the time of the offences was not as robust and rigorous as it would be now’.
Sheriff Olga Pasportnikov dismissed a suggestion from Keir’s defence counsel that ‘what went on in the pool was a carry on’.
She found Keir, who now lives in Cheshire, guilty of two charges of using lewd, indecent or libidinous practices by removing his swimming trunks in the presence of Gordonstoun pupils.
He was also found guilty of indecent assault by touching one boy inappropriately and of a breach of the peace.
Keir showered naked with pupils and made explicit remarks in front of teenage boys at the school, once described by Prince Charles as ‘Colditz in kilts’ because of its reputation for a strict regime.
Earlier in the trial, the court heard from a witness who said that when he was a first-year pupil, Keir had taken him and several others to the school’s pool for an ‘unofficial’ evening swimming trip.
The teacher initiated ‘skinny dipping’ and turned off the lights before chasing the boys around the darkened pool, it was claimed.
Yesterday Susan Duff, QC, representing Keir, said the witnesses had given ‘starkly contrasting accounts’ and if ‘someone wanted to make an allegation, it is not a difficult thing to do’.
She added that because of the school’s ‘very structured and regulated atmosphere’, there was ‘not an opportunity’ for the incidents to have taken place.
The court heard it was not unusual for teachers and pupils to share communal showers at the time, and the defence suggested that what had happened in the pool was simply teenage boys ‘having a laugh’. But Alison Wylie, prosecuting, said Keir had taken advantage of his position of trust in what she described as the ‘classic type of grooming behaviour’.
She added: ‘What we have here is children’s unscheduled trips to the swimming pool with a teacher in a position of trust.
‘Even if you accept that teachers had to undress and shower with the boys, it went beyond that.’
Miss Wylie told the court that ‘even in these different times, this behaviour was wrong and the boys, at the time, knew it was wrong’.
Keir’s defence claimed it was ‘odd’ that one of the witnesses came forward only after he had been informed of two other complaints.
But Miss Wylie said: ‘If there was some great conspiracy, it has not been led in any shape or form in evidence.’
Sentence was deferred until April 17 for criminal justice, social work and psychological reports. A decision will also be made on whether to place Keir on the sex offenders’ register.
A spokesman for Gordonstoun said: ‘We are profoundly saddened by this case. The offences, from 1988 and 1991, for which Andrew Keir has been convicted, are distressing for all involved and we admire the courage of those who came forward to seek justice.
‘When we were contacted by the police in 2015 about the allegations we gave them our full co-operation and wrote to our alumni offering our support, and urging anyone affected to contact the police.
‘The school’s response at the time of the offences was not as robust and rigorous as it would be now, and we are very sorry for this. Today, Gordonstoun has a rigorous approach to child protection.’
‘Classic grooming behaviour’