John Smyth’s disciples – from Private Eye
John Smyth’s disciples.
Serial abuser, John Smyth, who recruited and beat young men through the Iwerne Christian Camps, has earned a unique place in infamy, leading to the downfall of at least one archbishop. But Smyth is by no means the only individual associated with that network whose improprieties, sexual or otherwise, have brought them to the attention of the authorities.
A catalogue of bullies and abusers, many of whom went into educational careers, are linked with the !werne movement; some have been convicted, while others have left jobs under mysterious circumstances.
The late Simon Doggart was a victim of Smyth who turned into an accomplice in the beatings. He went on to be head teacher at Caldicott School, where he was criticised for his mishandling of disclosures of sexual abuse at the school.
Another, Tim Harbord, taught English and history at the exclusive Colet Court School when he wasn’t leading lwerne Camps. He was arrested in 20I3 on suspicion of sexual grooming of a child, and again in 2014 on suspicion of sexual assault, Shortly after the second arrest he took his own life.
Michael Clarkson taught classics at ~Shrewsbury School. He was found guilty in 2008 of “unacceptable professional conduct” after offering his room for children to have sex during a school trip and covertly filming them. That might have been the end of his teaching career, but another lwerne alumnus rode to the rescue in the shape of Revd
Tim Hastie-Smith, head of Dean Close School in Cheltenham, who gave the disgraced Clarkson a teaching job, saying that his school believed in “offering forgiveness and giving people a second chance”.
Hastie-Smith was forced to stand down and Clarkson was banned from teaching, but even that didn’t disqualify them from involvement in the lweme Trust, which Clarkson worked for as an IT consultant. Meanwhile yet another lwerne alumnus, Keith Civval, chair of the council of Scripture Union, which ran the Iwerne Camps, gave Hastie-Smith a tasty job as its national director.
One leader in the network recently completed a jail term for possession of indecent images of children. Police are taking no further action against another long-standing leader over his predilection for sniffing the feet of primaiy school children.
Private Eye December 6-19 2024
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