An alleged paedophile accused by broadcaster Nicky Campbell of abusing boys at some of Scotland’s top schools has been unmasked.
Dozens of men have accused Iain Wares, 83, of molesting them when they were children at Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College in the 1960s and 70s.
A judge ruled today that former maths teacher and rugby coach Wares, who is from and living in South Africa, could be named after applications from survivors and members of the media including MailOnline’s Associated Newspapers.
Previously Wares was only referred to as ‘Edgar’ because of an order by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry that prevented people who were accused but not convicted of abuse from being identified.
After the ruling by the Inquiry’s chair Lady Anne Smith, Mr Campbell, 61, said it was ‘an emotional day for a lot of men’.
Dozens of men have accused Iain Wares, 83, (pictured) of molesting them when they were children at Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College in the 1960s and 70s.
Iain Wares taught at Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College and was a maths teacher and rugby coach
An alleged paedophile accused by broadcaster Nicky Campbell of abusing boys at some of Scotland’s top schools has been unmasked as Iain Wares, 83 (not pictured). Broadcaster Nicky Campbell (pictured) said he witnessed his former teacher Wares abuse male pupils at Edinburgh Academy in the 1970s
He said: ‘The many survivors of the alleged prolific child abuser previously known as ”Edgar” who taught at two Scottish schools are pleased he can now be named.’
A statement from the inquiry today said: ‘Permission is now given, with immediate effect, to disclose and/ or publish inquiry evidence that identifies Iain Wares.’
Earlier this year Former SNP leader Ian Blackford used parliamentary privilege to name Wares in the House of Commons and said the case could become ‘Jimmy Savile Mark II’.
Wares was pictured in South Africa, where the 83-year-old alleged peadophile lives
He was arrested in 2019 by British Police in South Africa and is due to appear in court for an extradition hearing on March 17
An extradition order was signed in 2020 to bring the alleged paedophile to the UK to face six charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour and one charge of indecent assault
In January Mr Campbell said when he was at school he saw Wares abusing his friend in Edinburgh Academy’s changing rooms and described his conduct as ‘so ubiquitous’ that all of the pupils knew what was going on.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast this morning, Mr Campbell said: ‘He could well be one of the most prolific paedophiles in British criminal history if you do the maths and look at how long he taught and how many schools he was at.’
After Campbell went public with the allegations, other former pupils of Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College stepped forward with stories of abuse.
After the ruling by the Inquiry’s chair Lady Anne Smith (pictured), Mr Campbell, 61, said it was ‘an emotional day for a lot of men’
Edinburgh Academy (pictured), where dozens of boys were abused in the 1970s, has issued a public apology and said it is cooperating with police
The 83-year-old has been accused of crimes against boys at Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College (pictured)
BBC presenter Nicky Campbell, who attended the Academy in the 1970s, has led calls for him to be brought back to the UK to stand trial
The broadcaster, pictured as a child, said he could never talk about the abuse he suffered at Edinburgh Academy while his parents were alive as they ‘sacrificed’ so much for him to attend
Edinburgh Academy has since issued a public apology and said it is cooperating with police.
In a statement to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, Fettes College – whose alumni include former PM Tony Blair – made a ‘full and unreserved apology’.
Wares, who lives in a retirement complex in Cape Town, was arrested in 2019 by British Police in South Africa and is due to appear in court for an extradition hearing on March 17.
Former SNP leader Ian Blackford used parliamentary privilege to name Iain Wares, who was known as ‘Edgar’ and has been accused of being a sexual predator in the 1970s
Nicky Campbell spoke in July about witnessing and experiencing sexual and violent physical abuse as a young schoolboy at a Scottish private school during the 1970s
An extradition order was signed in 2020 to bring the alleged paedophile to the UK to face six charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous behaviour and one charge of indecent assault.
After the order was signed, police in South Africa arrested him for abuse allegations that related to his time at a Cape Town boys’ school in the 1990s.
He has been accused of abusing a boy at Rondebosch Boys’ School in Cape Town, where he taught from 1979 to 2006, The Mirror reported.
The alleged victim, known as Steven, was interviewed by journalist Alex Renton for his Radio 4 series Dark Corners. He described being molested by Wares several times in one year in the 1980s.
Steven said: ‘He was a senior teacher in his 50s, 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 added that he saw Wares abusing other boys at the school.
Dark Corners, which investigates abuse allegations at some of Britain’s most elite schools, reported that the Cape Town School has appealed for alumni to come forward with their stories if they believe they were abused.
Mr Campbell described the interview as a ‘breakthrough’ and said he was glad the ‘net was finally closing in’ on the suspect.
He said: ‘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 [Wares] will be prosecuted in South Africa.
‘I’ve listened to the whole unedited interview with tears in my eyes. It is incredibly powerful. It is incredible that he has come forward.’
Speaking on BBC Breakfast last July the former Watchdog presenter added he ‘couldn’t have spoken about the school’ when his mother and father ‘were alive’ because of the sacrifices they made to send him to private school.
He also called for a change of the rules for private schools that are not subject to the same safeguarding requirements as state schools.
Mr Campbell added: ‘There is no mandatory reporting in the private sector and you think now with our understanding and sensibilities he would be.
‘Schools like that fostered a culture of omerta and not telling and keeping the secrets and these are the people who have been running the country.’
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