Former schoolboys claim they were abused by Dundee paedophile ring in 1970s

Two ex-pupils at Balgowan approved school have alleged there was a paedophile ring in Dundee in the 1970s.

The Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry heard evidence from the men on Thursday, with both survivors claiming they were molested at the former Dundee Industrial School for Boys before being abused and plied with drugs and alcohol at houses in the city.

Callum, a pseudonym, was sent to Balgowan aged 12 by a children’s panel in Edinburgh after being expelled from school for truancy.

In a statement read to the inquiry by advocate Dana Forbes, he detailed regularly being woken up during the night by staff who shone a torch in his face before abusing him.

He also claimed he was taken outside of Balgowan to another house in Dundee on multiple occasions to see “special people”.

‘I was scared’

“[The abuse] was always at night and it happened weekly,” he said.

“I wondered if it was because we were the younger ones.

“Sometimes I was taken away to another house in a car. I would never see their faces because it was always dark but I remember there was a fancy leather sofa

“[There] they would ply us with drugs and alcohol.

“I never reported anything at the time because I was scared. I did not know who was involved.”

He also opened up on “constantly” running away from Balgowan in an attempt to get home to his family in the capital, sometimes “begging” strangers for money to pay for his train fare.

The chair of the inquiry, Lady Smith, also heard from another former pupil at the school who said he was regularly abused during his time there.

Philip, a pseudonym, was described as coming from a dysfunctional family in Dundee.

He was sent to Balgowan in 1971 as an eight-year-old.

In his evidence, read by David Sheldon KC, Philip said he was often taken into the showers and raped by a staff member, who cannot named for legal reasons.

He claimed this lasted until he was 10 or 11 years-old.

Philip also described being taken to a house in Dundee where he was given alcohol and abused.

He added: “I told the police [about the abuse] and they never believed me.”

School shut in the 1980s

The school was originally founded in 1843 as Baldovan Industrial School for Boys, with the 13-acre premises on Strathmartine Road opening in 1878 with room for 200 boys aged eight to 16.

It closed in 1983 and the premises, near Downfield, no longer exists. The site has been replaced with housing.

Earlier this week, the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry heard how former Balgowan pupils were subject to brutal punishment beatings and sexual abuse.

One said: “There was no one there [in the dormitory] to look after you.

“There was always a level of bullying, there were hardcore bullies in there.

“The bullies picked on me to do dirty things to them.”