Scottish Borders Council faces legal action over ex-teacher's abuse

Gordon Barkham was remanded in custody at the High Court in Edinburgh this month

A Scottish council is facing legal action after a former teacher admitted targeting teenage boys for sexual abuse at a school and cricket grounds.

Gordon Barkham, 78, of Melrose, was remanded in custody at the High Court in Edinburgh earlier this month.

Thompsons Solicitors is launching a civil case against Scottish Borders Council (SBC) seeking compensation.

Barkham admitted repeatedly offering a teenager money for sexual acts between February and May in 2014.

He also pled guilty to indecently assaulting two other boys at cricket clubs - one of them was also subjected to sexual abuse by him at a secondary school.

Thompsons Solicitors represents one of the victims - who wishes to remain anonymous - who described Barkham as a "predator who presided over a decades-long reign of child abuse".

"The charges that he has pled guilty to are just the tip of the iceberg," he said.

"This man treated the school and the wider community as a hunting ground for children."

Solicitors confirmed they were launching a civil case against Scottish Borders Council

He said the abuse had been a "unspoken secret" at the school.

"If the authorities had acted it could have stopped Barkham in his tracks," he said.

"I have waited many years for his criminal conviction but I wish I had been believed all those years ago.

"I've still heard nothing from SBC - not even an apology for what I've been through."

'Serious questions'

Laura Connor, a partner at Thompsons, said she believed there would be other victims and urged them to contact police.

"Gordon Barkham was seen as a pillar of the community in the Borders but was also a serial child abuser," she said.

"He preyed on children under his care in the most despicable way.

"SBC have some very serious questions to answer about how this man could have committed these crimes for so long."

Scottish Borders Council acting chief executive, David Robertson, said it found any form of abuse or harm to children "abhorrent".

"SBC is extremely sorry about any situation where a child has experienced any abuse or has been harmed in any way whilst in our care," he added.

He said it was aware of the legal action and was co-operating fully with the ongoing process.