Millfield suspends pupils for ‘initiation beating with bat’

MILLFIELD School has suspended two pupils amid claims that younger boys were beaten with a cricket bat in an “initiation ritual”.

The two students at the boarding school allegedly beat younger boys with a bat and a belt, including on their bare bottoms.

The claims of bullying at the school in Somerset, where boarders pay nearly £40,000 a year, were made by a mother who removed her son, Tok, just a week after he joined this month.

Erica Charles told The Sunday Times that in the alleged incident, which was recorded by Tok, the children were given a “choice” of “two lashes on the shorts” or “one on the bare backside”.

She said that two older boys began hitting year 10s, who are mainly aged 14, with a belt, “mainly on naked backsides”. One “hit a Year 10 with a cricket bat, also on their naked backside”.

Gavin Horgan, Millfield’s headmaster, told The Sunday Times: “Bullying of any sort is wrong, and there is absolutely no place for it anywhere in our school. As soon as I was made aware of this allegation an investigation was conducted and the two pupils concerned were suspended.”