The complainant, referred to as “David” (not his real name), is one of more than 20 people who have charged former Formby High School teacher Ian Farquharson, who served as junior high school principal. According to the investigation records, Farquharson committed suicide in 1992 after he was “called to the principal’s office” for a “complaint” from the mother of a child. This “complaint” came after David, now in his 40s, talked to his mom about his horrible ordeal. He told ECHO: “It actually started when I was in high school. Another girl and I were on a visit to Formby High School. We were in the staff room and we broke up, and she started stroking my leg, so it started right away. READ MORE: The “disgraced” woman who raped a girl was found laughing and smiling at the dock “When I started high school, he started taking me out of school, but he took me out for water and drinks, so I needed the toilet. Then he followed me to the toilet and started touching me all the time. about two or three times a week for two years. “ David said the abuse included the most serious forms of sexual harassment, including an allegation of something that would now be treated as an attempted rape. While David says he was not visibly threatened by Farquharson to remain silent, he said the two dads were holding an innovative Filofax in his office with fake human hands reaching out to make it look like someone was trapped inside. David said Farquharson would say, “This is what happens to people who tell stories about me.” For the first two years of his high school life, David kept the abuse to himself and may have been considered more vulnerable due to the difficulties at home associated with his parents’ separation. But the abuse finally ended when David finished school and told his mom what was happening in May 1992. The same day, Farquharson got into his car, drove to a secluded spot near Mold in North Wales and committed suicide using his carbon monoxide from the exhaust of his car. According to an ECHO report from his interrogation in July of that year, Farquharson had returned from school to his home in Ashdale Close, Formby, looking confused according to a neighbor, before leaving by car. The court heard that he had been summoned to the principal’s study and had launched an investigation into his conduct by the education principals. Read more related articles Read more related articles Despite the trauma of the previous two years, David says he was left to continue his life by the school and the local authority without any advice. With Farquharson dead, no formal police investigation was conducted. David said he initially felt a complex form of guilt when Farquharson died, but says he now believes it was merely an attempt to evade justice and responsibility. The scars from these experiences were profound and David’s mental state deteriorated in the years that followed. He said: “For a start, I did not really understand it. It was after adolescence and when I was around 16 or 17, I started playing outside, going out drinking. “When I was a little older, I started to hurt myself, I cut my wrists, I cut myself with Stanley knives. I have scars up to my arms and chest. Everyone knew that. I tried to commit suicide, but I woke up and got stuck on a laminate floor with my own my blood “. Fortunately, David said that he managed to start dealing with his traumatic youth around 2008 and slowly built a life. He is now married with his own children. He launched the investigation into the closure in 2016, prompted by reports of predatory pedophile and former football coach Barry Bennell, who is serving a 34-year sentence for sexually abusing young boys. However, the damage done by Farquharson remains. David told ECHO: “It still affects me. I’m going to cry and cry when I think about it or talk about it.” David is now one of 22 complainants in the process of initiating a case against the Sefton Council over alleged Farquharson abuse allegedly taking place between about 1975 and his death in 1992. Lawyer Katherine Yates, of Andrew Grove and Co Solicitors, acts on behalf of the men, but urges anyone else who may have been affected to appear. He said those allegedly “targeted by Mr Farquharson felt that their lives had been ruined by the abuse at his hands”. He said: “It appears that no counseling or support was offered at the time of the revelation and that investigations are now under way to determine what was known to the school and local authorities at the time of Mr Farquharson’s death. “I can only think that the serious psychological and psychiatric harm suffered by my clients could have been reduced if appropriate support had been provided when the abuse was first discovered. “It seems that instead of offering advice and support to the child victims, a memorial plaque was placed on the school premises, which was unveiled with a lot of ceremony and caused significant further upset to the children concerned.” A Sefton Council spokesman told ECHO he could not comment on the case. Ms Yates urged anyone affected to contact her company, whether they had filed a claim in the past or not, and stressed that the case was being conducted without charge. Anyone seeking more information can contact Katherine Yates or Charlotte Denley at 01223 367133 or email [email protected] or [email protected]
