Former students of a Dorset school, victimised by its previous paedophile headmaster, Robin Lindsay, are pursuing compensation in what is considered the most significant scandal of its nature.
Robin Lindsay instructed at Sherborne Preparatory School for several decades until, at the age of 70, he was deemed a “fixated paedophile” by a tribunal in 1998.
Robin Lindsay was never charged and passed away in 2016 with the onset of dementia.
The victims provided testimony to the Independent Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse and expressed approval of its recommendations.
The investigation, published on Thursday, commenced in 2015 to examine methods for mitigating the risk of paedophilia, especially within the commercial sector.
The report characterised the kind and extent of abuse in England and Wales as “horrific and deeply disturbing,” with children being “threatened, beaten, and humiliated.”
It is advised that individuals who engage with children and fail to disclose child sexual abuse should face prosecution.
In 1998, the Department for Education determined that Robin Lindsay engaged in sexual abuse, urged youngsters to share his bed, and participated with them in showers while unclothed.
He had spent his whole life at the school, progressing from student to educator, and upon his appointment as head in 1973, he assumed ownership of the institution.
Without governors or trustees, he was unaccountable; nonetheless, victims indicate that the abuse commenced much before his appointment as headteacher.
Philip Chatfield, who was 10 years old upon his arrival at the school in 1968, was subjected to abuse by Lindsay.
The 64-year-old said: “He took me upstairs to his bedroom and got me to lie on his bed while I had to take my shorts down exposing myself.
“He then leered over me while he rubbed my groin… while staring at my nether regions with flaring nostrils.
“He was pleasuring himself. When it was finished he walked away and I disappeared, I was in shock for days.
“That sort of thing happened to other boys as well.
“We rarely talked about it because we didn’t understand it because we had been conditioned and groomed all these years just to be silent. It affects you, it’s a form of rape.”
Another former pupil, John Brittan, started boarding at Sherborne Prep in 1973, aged nine, and was traumatised after late night visits to his dorm by the headmaster.
The 59-year-old actor said: “Robin Lindsay used to patrol the dormitory and you didn’t know what to do .
“He put his hand up my back and rubbed my bottom… and said ‘well done’.
“He used to watch the boys in the showers and make sure you wash between the buttocks and then he would shower with us.”
Mr Brittan never told his parents because of he feared what Robin Lindsay would do.
Mr Chatfield and Mr Brittan have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and are taking legal action against Robin Lindsay’s estate, alongside several other former pupils.
Their solicitor, Charles Derham from Remedy Law, said he could not comment currently, but the BBC understands Robin Lindsay’s estate has been frozen as part of the claim.
An investigation by Dorset Social Services in 1997 found disquiet expressed by boarders about the headmaster’s behaviour to them in a shower room and dormitories.
The report also found concern that his remarks on the body development of pupils, pubic hair and size of genitals “demonstrated an inordinate interest in their anatomy”.
Inspectors were told Robin Lindsay had given three boys a “sleeping pill”.
A female ex-pupil, who wants to remain anonymous, has told the current independent inquiry into sex abuse that Robin Lindsay would regularly go into her dormitory at night, and she believes she may have been drugged before being abused.
Mr Brittan’s sister, Joanna Brittan, is supporting his victims and believes thousands could have potentially been affected.
The 57-year-old said: “It was unbelievable that despite two really brave whistle blowers from 1985 he still remained in situ abusing children.
“Some of the boys disclosing on some of the blogs that I found are disclosing abuse from the 1950s, 60s and 70s.”
After retirement, Robin Lindsay lived next to the school and was never charged. Dorset Police said many parents were approached and a “number refused to engage for reasons only known to them”.
The BBC has been told by victims that parents preferred the results their children were getting and the advantage in life that gave, rather than what was actually happening to them.
Sherborne Preparatory School, which was bought in 1998 from Robin Lindsay, became a charitable trust and is a completely separate entity to the school he owned.
The trust says it is “horrified by the failures of authorities” to address many significant concerns raised for decades before it took over.
Martin Herring said “in that environment, power was currency and the small boys were the lowest form of that currency”
Another victim, Martin Herring, who boarded between 1972-75, described a “culture of abuse” that spread to the older boys.
He said: “If you had done well with your homework you were allowed to watch Top of the Pops and half-way through there were Pans People dancing.
“He would stick his head around the door to make sure they were appropriately dressed and at the same time that was happening the older boys with the serious authority were canoodling with the younger boys.
“What I realised in that environment was power was currency and the small boys were the lowest form of that currency.”
In a disturbing memory, two of Robin Lindsay’s victims asked Martin to get into the science lab to make a bomb from stores.
The 61-year-old said: “I said ‘why?’ and they said ‘because we are going to blow him up’.
“Two days later I was sitting by the running track and I heard a dull sound and I heard one of those boys running out of the woods with these two fingers missing and the rest all charred where they had obviously been rehearsing the bomb.
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.