A South African judge has determined that a retired Paedophile teacher, Iain Wares, accused of being one of Britain’s most frequent paedophiles, can be extradited to the UK.
Iain Wares, likened to Jimmy Savile by former student and BBC journalist Nicky Campbell, is accused of having abused numerous boys at two private schools in Edinburgh during the 1960s and 1970s.
Iain Wares was employed at Edinburgh Academy, where Campbell was a student, and Fettes College, the old school of Sir Tony Blair.
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Now 85, Iain Wares, he has been fighting extradition to stand trial in Edinburgh, following a request made in 2018, claiming sending him to face justice would be “too severe a punishment” on health grounds.
However, Iain Wares lost an appeal case in a judgement handed down by the High Court of South Africa on Thursday.
In the 64-page ruling, Wares is described as a “self-confessed paedophile”, who it states had acknowledged his crimes, claiming his “urges to sexually molest learners overtook him”.
The court had been considering seven charges in Scotland, relating to offences alleged to have taken place between 1969 and 1976.
The South African court ruled that Iain Wares could be extradited on three, including lewd, indecent and libidinous practices, with the others too historical under the country’s own legal system.
Scottish prosecutors have said they want him to face more than 80 abuse charges.
The case will now be referred to the justice minister in South Africa, though the government had previously backed the request from British authorities.
Sources in South Africa said the case could yet be hit by further appeals and that it could take “years” to resolve.
The judgement states that Wares, who lives in the Cape Peninsula region, took up teaching posts at various boys’ schools in South Africa, after graduating with a psychology degree despite not having a formal qualification as an educator.
It adds that “over time his urges to sexually molest learners overtook him to the extent that he could not control himself and his conduct became habitual”.
The ruling states that relocated to Scotland to seek mental health support in 1967 from a specialist in his “condition”.
However, this “proved ineffective” and he then qualified as a teacher and “took up employment at exclusive boys-only schools where he once again committed various sexual offences”.
Iain Wares was sacked in 1979 and returned to South Africa with his wife, who knew about his deviant crimes, and claims that “since his return home has not indulged in any further sexual offences”.
Iain Wares was named in the House of Commons by Ian Blackford, the former SNP Westminster leader, using parliamentary privilege in 2023.
Lady Smith, who is leading an inquiry into historical abuse in Scotland, then issued an order allowing him to be named.
He had previously been known as the pseudonym “Edgar” in inquiry proceedings.
Mr Campbell, the Radio 5 Live broadcaster, told the inquiry last year that he had witnessed a primary school aged pupil being sexually assaulted by Iain Wares, whom he compared to Savile.
He said: “Savile was on everyone’s minds at the BBC, Savile’s opportunities were one-to-one. Iain Wares was one-to-20 boys.”
He went on to become visibly angry when speaking about Iain Wares living in a “plush retirement home” and has previously said he is not hopeful that he will ever face justice.
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