Skegby Hall: Nigel Pipe found guilty of 1960s sex abuse

Pipe abused the boys while working at Skegby Hall in Sutton-in-Ashfield in the 1960s

An ex-housemaster has been found guilty of sexually abusing five vulnerable boys in the 1960s.

Nigel Pipe was convicted of 27 offences committed while working at Skegby Hall, an approved boys school in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.

During a three-week trial, Nottingham Crown Court heard Pipe "repeatedly abused his position of trust" in abusing the boys, all aged under 16.

Judge Julie Warburton said the 87-year-old should expect a lengthy sentence.

The jury found Pipe guilty of four counts of buggery, nine counts of indecency with a child and 14 counts of indecent assault on a male.

The trial previously heard that Pipe, of Llanwenarth View in Govilon, Abergavenny, had committed the offences while in his 30s and living at Skegby Hall with his wife.

'Personal gratification'

The school had the capacity to house 56 boys, up until its closure in 1992.

Prosecutor Sarah Knight said Pipe worked as a relief housemaster at the school which was a "residential institution" where young people could be sent by a court if they committed a criminal offence.

"Each of the complainants was a young boy at the time, each of those boys was vulnerable at the time, each came from a difficult background, and each of them had got into trouble," she said.

"Nigel Pipe was a man who significantly, systematically, and repeatedly abused his position of trust at Skegby Hall by sexually abusing every one of those five young boys for his own personal gratification,"

He will be sentenced on 14 October.

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