The daughter of a teacher who allegedly abused BBC presenter Nicky Campbell when he was at school has told the broadcaster that she cannot bear the fact her father’s “blood is inside me”.
Jenny Pearson spoke to Campbell for the latest episode of his podcast Different, after hearing claims of his experiences at the Edinburgh Academy.
Her father Hamish Dawson worked at the private school in the 1970s and was accused of multiple instances of both emotional and physical abuse towards young boys.
Campbell, 61, alleged in an episode of his podcast last year that he had both witnessed and been the victim of abuse that had “profoundly changed my life”. He also named Dawson, who died in 2009, as one of his alleged abusers.
He said he was “badly beaten” by one teacher and that he witnessed sexual abuse, allegedly enacted on his schoolmates, at the hands of another man at the institution.
Ms Pearson, a therapist, was one of several people to get in touch with the journalist after he spoke publicly about his experiences, and said she had been estranged from her father for years before his death.
“I wanted to reach out because I believe in the truth and I can’t bear secrets and collusion,” she told Campbell. She said she was “in awe” of his decision to speak out.
‘Appalling, repulsive, shameful, disgusting’
Ms Pearson and her family moved into the Edinburgh Academy boarding houses when she was seven. She said her father was “absent” due to always being “with the boys” and that she did not get on with her mother.
While she “hand-on-heart, didn’t miss him”, she said she resented her father leaving her with her mother.
“It’s appalling, it’s repulsive, it’s shameful, it’s disgusting,” she said of her father’s alleged abuse. “I have spent my entire professional life fighting for the rights of children and young people, and he was doing that.”
Ms Pearson said she had spent hours speaking to other alleged victims on the phone since the stories about her father were first made public.
Dawson quit the Edinburgh Academy and took early retirement at the age of 56, which was rumoured to be due to pornography being found in his briefcase, Campbell said.
‘If I could have a transfusion, I would do it’
Ms Pearson said his decision had never made any sense to her, saying: “I thought he would die there. It felt like he was married to the academy.”
On her decision to speak to Campbell, she added: “I don’t think I’ve been brave, I don’t think I’ve done anything special, I’ve done what I felt I needed to do.
“I was his daughter, I will always be his daughter even though he is dead. As I said before, I wish I wasn’t. I can’t bear that his blood is inside me.
“If I could have some kind of transfusion I would do it.”
Speaking about when Ms Pearson first got in touch with him via email, Campbell told BBC Radio Scotland: “I saw the sentence ‘I too hold him in contempt’, and then I read it, and then I phoned her, and it was one of the most incredible conversations I’ve ever had.
“She wanted to talk to very many of his victims, as many as she could, and she has done that, and it’s just been an amazing thing.
“I think she’s been empowered. It’s so empowering to talk about this stuff. It’s a massive step.”
School working with authorities
A statement from Edinburgh Academy said: “Like any right-minded person, we are appalled by the reports of historic abuse.
“We continue to work closely with authorities such as Police Scotland and the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry as they investigate what has happened. They are rightly leading on establishing the facts and what action may need to follow, and we will continue to respect that ongoing process.
“The wellbeing of children is at the heart of our school ethos today and we have robust measures in place to safeguard every student entrusted to our care. Schools should be safe places for children, and we encourage anyone who has been the victim of abuse to contact the police.”
The full interview with Ms Pearson can be heard on Nicky Campbell’s Different podcast.
