A former Scots school teacher jailed for assaulting teenage girls with drum sticks has been struck off by a social services watchdog after showing “no remorse”.
James Clark was found guilty of the abuse and engaging in a months-long “illicit affair” with a 17-year-old girl at a boarding school in Perthshire.
The drumming instructor, who was also an assistant housemaster, began working at the school in 2012 and had a ‘habit’ of smacking girls on the bottom.
The 56-year-old’s victims were aged between 13 and 18 during the course of his offending between 2011 and 2019.
When Clark, known as Drummie, was challenged about his behaviour by the girls, he would tell them “I’m your school dad”, a court was told.
He was jailed for one year and nine months at Falkirk Sheriff Court in November last year after a jury found him guilty.
He was convicted for common assault, three breach of trust by sexual acitivty charges and one count of communicating indecently with a pupil.
Clark, who was a chief instructor for pipes and drums in the British Army, has now been hauled in front of the Scottish Social Services Council, who struck him from the register.
They said: “You have not demonstrated any insight or regret, and have not apologised to your victims.
“While you were entitled to maintain not guilty pleas at trial, after your conviction you have not shown any remorse or insight and have not provided any meaningful comments to the SSSC.
“There appears to be a degree of premeditated and deliberate planning that went into the behaviour as it occurred on multiple occasions, involving a number of different young people over a prolonged period of time.
“You were employed in a senior position and should have been setting an example of good behaviour to those you were responsible for.
“The conduct took place in work, where you took advantage of the access you had to young people to behave in a sexually abusive and inappropriate manner with them.
“There is a clear pattern to your behaviour, which involves sexually abusive and inappropriate conduct towards multiple young people in your care over a period of around 8 years.
“The consequences of your behaviour were potentially profound, in that your conduct placed the young people who were your victims at significant risk of physical and emotional harm.
“Your conduct also brings into disrepute the social services profession.
“Your conduct involves a number of extremely serious abuses of the trust placed in you to care appropriately for the young people who you should have been protecting from abuse and harm.”
The watchdog said Clark had “cooperated with the SSSC’s investigation and provided limited comments on the allegations”.
But they deemed his behaviour “fundamentally incompatible with professional registration”.
The 17-year-old grooming victim, who was abused in a number of locations including a bagpipe cupboard, said she suffered “victim shame and guilt for a long time”.
She reported his abuse to the headmaster in February 2019.
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