Former Edinburgh Academy teacher guilty of abusing boys for 27 years

Times

12-08-2025

A former international rugby referee carried out physical and sexual attacks on boys while he worked at a prestigious private school, a court has ruled.
John 'Jake' Young served as director of sport at Edinburgh Academy between 1966 and 1993 and officiated at matches at Murrayfield and overseas.
Edinburgh sheriff court ruled that the 92-year-old was not fit to stand trial.
However, an examination of the facts hearing, carried out in his absence, found on Monday that 26 charges made against Young had been substantiated.
They included ten charges of assault, three of indecent assault, eight of lewd and libidinous behaviour, four of breaching the peace, and one of cruel and unnatural treatment.
The hearing heard Young routinely lashed out at boys, touched them inappropriately and spied on them when they were naked and showering after PE lessons.
Outside court a spokesman for the Edinburgh Academy Survivors group read out a statement: 'The determination today from Sheriff Ian Nicol has blown the final whistle for the former international rugby referee and PE teacher Jake Young at Edinburgh Academy.
'This will now provide some comfort for all those boys, some as young as ten years old, who were never believed at the time.
'This examination of the facts has shown that Mr Young carried out acts of cruelty and to have physically and mentally terrified boys that he was trusted to look after during his 27 year tenure.
'His violent and libidinous acts are now a matter of public record.'
The spokesman added: 'The fact that numerous men came forward, many decades later, shows the severity and lifelong impact that the abuse has had upon their lives with many waiting over 50 years for justice to be served.
'This will send out a very clear signal that never again will the harmful treatment of children be tolerated.
'The significant passage of time is no barrier to holding those who are guilty to account.'
One survivor, who was subjected to a barrage of physical blows in a sudden and unprovoked attacked during a PE lesson in the 1980s, said: 'Young was at the academy for decades and taught PE to nearly all the boys so it would not surprise me if hundreds more were not affected.
'I complained but my complaint was taken to Young.'
Another former pupil, also speaking on condition of anonymity, added: 'This outcome should send shivers down the spines of Edinburgh Academy bosses.'
'For decades, survivors like myself have been accused of lying, exaggerating or misremembering but now we have a black and white decision that finally vindicates us.'
Two women, believed to be relatives of Young, shouted 'Shame on you all' towards survivors sitting in the gallery after Sheriff Nicol delivered his findings.
An interview with Young has been removed from the academy's website.
He was one of five former staff members who were arrested and charged in connection with 'non-recent abuse incidents at Edinburgh Academy' in December 2023.
The alma mater of Robert Louis Stevenson and Magnus Magnusson, has become embroiled in a series of scandals stretching back decades.
Nicky Campbell, the broadcaster and author, is one of scores of former pupils who claim they were subjected to sexual and physical abuse at the academy which has produced generations of surgeons, solicitors and stockbrokers.
Efforts are continuing to extradite Iain Wares, 86, who taught at the academy and neighbouring Fettes College in the 1960s and 1970s, and is accused of molesting boys on an 'industrial scale'.
Two years ago Campbell, 64, wept as he told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry that he saw or witnessed abuse from four teachers when he attended Edinburgh Academy between 1966 and 1978.
Under oath he likened Wares's alleged crimes to those carried out by Jimmy Savile.
The number of former staff at the academy who have been accused of historical sexual and physical abuse is approaching 30.
Edinburgh Academy has maintained it would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases while there are active legal proceedings.
Barry Welsh, the rector, has issued an unreserved public apology to anyone who experienced abuse at the school and urged them to contact Police Scotland.