Broadcaster Nicky Campbell believes the fight to bring a predatory former teacher to justice could soon take a step forward.
The teacher, known as “Edgar” in the UK for legal reasons, has previously admitted to abusing boys at schools in Edinburgh during the 1960s and 70s.
However, following a documentary on Edgar in South Africa, where he now lives, a man has come forward to claim he was abused by him at a school in Cape Town in the 1980s.
Nicky has been leading the fight to extradite Edgar to the UK to be tried for his alleged crimes, but there have been significant delays. But Nicky says testaments from survivors from schools in South Africa could “change everything”.
He adds: “It’s a real breakthrough. The Scottish and South African legal authorities have made procedural errors, but there’s now a very good chance Edgar will be prosecuted in South Africa.”
In an interview with journalist Alex Renton on his Radio 4 series In Dark Corners, to air tonight, a man – given the pseudonym Steven to protect his identity – told of being molested by Edgar several times in just under a year.
Steven claimed: “He was a senior teacher, in his fifties. I was a 12, 13-year-old boy.
"All I could say was, ‘yes sir, no sir’. His favourite one was being untidy. If your shirt wasn’t tucked in, that was part of his modus operandi to have physical contact with you.
"That would progress to grabbing me. He would push himself up against me.”
Steven also claimed he saw Edgar molesting other pupils.
The show hears how the Cape Town school has written to alumni urging them to come forward if they believe they were abused.
Nicky, 61, said: “I’ve listened to the whole unedited interview with tears in my eyes. It is incredibly powerful. You hear the shame. It is incredible that he has come forward.”
BBC 5 Live presenter Nicky was a 10-year-old pupil at his prestigious former school when he says he saw Edgar molesting a classmate. Nicky came forward about the alleged abuse, which took place in the 1970s, in the Daily Mirror last July.
It prompted complaints from other former pupils of Edinburgh Academy, as well as Fettes College where Edgar later taught.
Edinburgh Academy has apologised and said it is working with police.
Edgar retired from the Cape Town school over 10 years ago. He now lives in a retirement complex in the city. His extradition hearing is set for March 17.
Nicky added: “We are never going to give up until he is brought to justice.”
- In Dark Corners is on Radio 4, 8pm tonight, and on BBC Sounds.
