Pair guilty of horrific abuse of 30 pupils

TWO men who worked at a school for troubled children have been found guilty of the horrific abuse of almost 30 pupils.

Former art teacher Matthew George, 73, and care worker John Muldoon, 69, were convicted after a fresh probe into how youngsters were treated at Kerelaw residential school in Stevenston, Ayrshire.

Jurors heard how physical and sexual attacks were ‘rife’, with children too scared to report their ordeals at the time.

George, of Largs, Ayrshire, was convicted of a total of 39 charges involving 21 boys and girls.

Muldoon, of Irvine, Ayrshire, was found guilty of 16 of the charges he faced. These involved nine children and included the rape of two girls.

The two men had previously been jailed in 2006 for abuse at Kerelaw. George – a teacher there for 29 years – was locked up for ten years and Muldoon for two and a half years.

They were hauled back into the dock in 2017 amid new allegations, which led to a two-month trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

The crimes occurred between 1975 and 2000.

The school – run by Strathclyde Regional Council and later Glasgow City Council – closed in 2006.

Victims told of being abused by George there and at his home in Largs, with much of the evidence recorded and played before the jurors.

The court heard of horrific sexual abuse and physical violence which included children being put down holes while also being punched and hit. The trial was also told of trembling victims being made to line up in the gym and golf balls being hurled at them.

The court heard how one boy was booted on the ankles as he recovered from breaking them weeks earlier. Another was kept in the cells of the secure unit area of the school for more than a fortnight after having been assaulted.

Prosecutor Paul Kearney, KC, said: ‘Violence was rife and tolerated by staff.’

Judge Lady Drummond told the pair: ‘You will be sent to prison for a significant period of time.’

Muldoon winked to relatives as he was led to the cells, while George waved to the gallery. Both will be sentenced on January 13, 2023.