JAMES CLARK, FORMER TEACHER IN EDINBURGH, JAILED FOR SEXUAL AND ASSAULT OFFENCES AT PERTHSHIRE SCHOOL

A music instructor was sentenced to prison yesterday for assaulting teenage girls at a boarding school in Perthshire. James Clark, 56, who previously served as the chief drum and pipes instructor in the Army, was convicted of common assault for hitting or touching girls on their backsides. He was also found guilty of breach of trust through sexual activity with pupils and communicating indecently with a girl.

Clark received a sentence of one year and nine months after attacking seven girls aged between 13 and 18. Falkirk Sheriff Court revealed that he had a pattern of touching girls’ bottoms at the school. Jurors heard that Clark engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old in 2018, including kissing her in a cupboard and performing a sex act in the pipe band store. The victim, now 20, described being abused by Clark in various locations including his car, the band hut, the drying room, and once in a children’s tuck cupboard, where he reportedly put his hand up her T-shirt and under her skirt.

Another former pupil, now 23, expressed feeling ‘violated’ after she was regularly struck on her backside, often during tartan skirt-fitting sessions in the school shop. She recounted that during a school trip to Switzerland, Clark, nicknamed ‘Drummie,’ smacked her on the behind almost constantly. Several ex-pupils described how when they confronted Clark about hitting bottoms, he would dismissively say, “I’m your school Dad,” whether the hitting was done with his hands, drumsticks, or a rolled-up copy of the register.

One victim recounted an incident at a Christmas concert when Clark cornered her and said, “The two of us should have children together.” He was also accused of hugging girls, entering a pupil’s bedroom while she was asleep, sitting on her bed, and kissing her on the forehead.

Clark, of Edinburgh, denied all charges. His lawyer, Sarah Livingstone, claimed he had an ‘illicit affair’ with one girl, but prosecutor Cheryl Clark stated that the victim had been groomed.

Sheriff Alistair Brown emphasized the gravity of Clark’s actions, saying, “Sexual activity by a man in relation to a girl under 18... in a position of trust is absolutely prohibited. There are no exceptions. It is always a crime.”

Clark, now working as a gardener, showed no emotion as he was taken away to the cells. The court sentenced him to never work with children again.