There are numerous news reports about Ian McFadyen, who claims to have been abused by teachers at Caldicott school. Judging from a Channel 4 report (his interview starts at 1:55), he came forward following a 2008 documentary featuring older former pupils from the school. One of them was also interviewed by Channel 4. There are a few things that are unclear from the various reports about him.

(1) his background and where he spent his time

A 2006 BBC report about him does not mention abuse. It says he was working in Dubai and Hawaii, developed a drink/drug habit, then returned to Scotland when his father died, and was back there by the age of 29. While in Dubai it says he moved to the world's first 7-star hotel, which according to this report was opened by his father. But the world's "only 7-star hotel" in Dubai apparently did not open until 1999. If he was born in 1966, as his Twitter handle suggests (@IanMcFadyen1966), he would have been 33, back in Scotland, and his father would already have been dead. The BBC report says he worked as a hotel butler, while this one quotes him as saying he ran hotels in the Middle East, including Oman. The reports are also conflicting with regard to when he developed a drug habit and when his life fell apart. The Channel 4 interview indicates 14, the 2006 BBC an older age. So where was he exactly at what age and what was he doing?

(2) George Hill, Caldicott deputy head

The names "George Hill" and Caldicott only appear in Google results in connection with Ian McFadyen's claims. George Hill is reported to have committed suicide without being charged. It is not clear whether the journalists verified the manner of his death and/or whether the man knew of the allegations. Although he was apparently not accused by the former pupils in the documentary, Ian McFadyen claims he was his worst abuser. In this interview, where he seems unclear about his age at the time, saying he is "of the opinion" he was 11, while he makes very serious abuse claims, his description of the man is otherwise quite general, i.e. he says he was grandfatherly and wore a tweed jacket, something which could correspond to a general memory by any pupil who had not been abused and/or be concluded by anyone from the man's photograph, which has been posted on Twitter (top right).
Are Ian McFadyen's claims about George Hill accurate?

The 2006 BBC article says "In his two years on the streets, Ian became addicted to heroin and admits to making up stories he is "really ashamed of" to persuade people to give him money."

Not to cast asper(g)sions against the man Tom Watson MP described as a 'narcissistic bully' whose 'media appearances could bring the whole show down', but this is also fact:
Ian lives in a lovely big house in lovely area of Scotland, appears to live the lifestyle of someone on a respectable wage and yet also appears to do very little other than lobby on Twitter all day every day.

Could he (and others) be getting fiscal rewards for their social media work towards 'the cause'?

fascinating

Hedda was invited to work in Oman in the late 70s (1870) for 6 months.

Not only financially rewarding but I became very fond of the country and it's people and fascinated by the Sultan of Oman (who I met) and his confidante / equerry/power behind the throne,... Brigadier Langdon of the British army.

Now there was, and I have been back twice, only 2 5/6 star hotels all catering for the huge British contingent who were allowed to drink alcohol.

The highlight of the week may have been a visit to one to see Harry Secombe perform.

the population is still under 4 million today (but the Brits are in the 10,000s working in defense) and it's not a particularly tourist destination (although fascinating) and the hotels were run by the cream of the world's managers purloined from Hilton, Dorchestor- you name it - for huge pay packets.

So you cannot pull the wool over this one's eyes but many do and use Oman as a sort fantasy place that no-one will dare check on.

## Incidently...as I traveled back to London in a First Class seat on Gulf Air I got to chatting to a charming (and gold laden) Arab chap in the next seat.

I bemoaned Omani TV ( I Love Lucy was very popular) and he said..so you do not know do you that Muscat ( the most unique city on the planet) was famed in the 1700/1800s as a stop-off point for Pirates wishing to visit it's numerous Boy Brothels !!!

we live and learn.

His knowledge appears to be sought after by police and others working in the field.

29 October 2016
"working on my presentation at the upcoming Operation Hydrant conference"
mobile.twitter.com/IanMcFadyen1966/statu...2500901646897154?p=v
"Quite odd being asked to give a presentation as to how my experiences with the police may influence many officers nationally"
mobile.twitter.com/IanMcFadyen1966/statu...2501749915541504?p=v

"Operation Hydrant is a coordination hub established in June 2014 to deliver the national policing response, oversight, and coordination of non-recent child abuse investigations concerning persons of public prominence, or in relation to those offences which took place historically within institutional settings.
… on Thursday 26 November 2015 a national Operation Hydrant conference took place. The conference brought together around 300 police officers and staff from across the country, from a range of specialisms including investigators, child protection, analysts, and those specially trained in crimes involvingsexual offences. "
www.npcc.police.uk/NPCCBusinessAreas/Oth...perationHydrant.aspx

I have seen this man before, on a TV documentary. My impression of him was that he had clearly gone through some personal turmoil about his sexuality in his teenaged years. He then went on to have alcohol and drugs problems, as well as some erratic life choices. He seemed retrospectively to be re-remembering his early sexual experiences as negative ones, in order to make sense of his life experiences.

OK, if this guy's teachers buggered him forcibly at the age of 12, that's bad. If... We have a criminal law system to decide whether they did molest him. One teacher was convicted, I believe. Several others were not.

The criminal courts and public policing policy are not sources of therapy sessions for victims of sexual molestation. That is not their function. In the articles, Ian McFadyen talks about there being very little support for men like him (although there is a lot for women). I would respectfully recommend to him that his efforts would be better concentrated in making improvements there, rather than trying to pervert the role of other organisations into a pastoral one.

A question for others, arising from the comment from Chris: is there really money to be made touting molestation stories? Is it a question of making a facebook page full of misery and then inviting donations? Wasn't there a fake campaign about a mentally disabled girl who turned out never to have been molested as claimed, but not before there was a lot of money donated? I'm a bit out of touch with this kind of nonsense so can anyone explain?

Wasn't there a fake campaign about a mentally disabled girl who turned out never to have been molested as claimed, but not before there was a lot of money donated?
I think this is what you're referring to. The article mentions money being collected via PayPal.
One devastating fantasy: the impact of an internet scandal

Ian McFadyen appears to have a shop.
www.facebook.com/pages/Labyrinth-Peebles/1701299150105790
"So am asked today where my speakers fee needs to be paid to ? Invest it in child protection ! I don't earn from abuse"
mobile.twitter.com/IanMcFadyen1966/status/781960003947298817

His story seems to be quite extensive.
Channel 4 interview: 'Abuse devastated me - but I won't be silenced' "I was passed from teacher to teacher and suffered all levels of abuse… my abuse stopped with one teacher and started with another."

"John Addrison, 54, was a former Caldicott pupil who as a student teacher took the opportunity to sexually abuse Ian during one-to-one tutorials. He was sentenced to five years in 2012 after admitting sex offences against pupils there and at another school. Ian’s chief tormentor, George Hill, killed himself before any charges could be brought. Another teacher who Ian accused of indecently assaulting him stood trial twice. The first case ended with a hung jury and he was acquitted following a retrial."
www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/from...he-streets-1-3347514

"Paula has supported him in the witness box - twice - in trials of his teachers."
www.theguardian.com/society/2014/jul/20/...exual-abuse-children

It seems that the headmaster plus three other teachers, including one accused by Ian McFadyen, were found guilty of sexual abuse.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldicott_School#Child_sex_abuse

Another crinkle in the backstory:
"From 13-and-a-half in my life, my life fell apart. I turned to poor coping strategies, such as alcohol and drugs. I had my stomach pumped for alcohol poisoning for the first time when I was 14".
www.channel4.com/news/roland-peter-white...boy-preparatory-jail
"The first time I took heroin I was 12. The first time I got my stomach pumped for alcohol poisoning, I was 13."
www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-...victims-9880699.html

The link in the first post above to the 2008 Caldicott documentary no longer works, but the documentary is viewable here:
truevisiontv.com/films/details/97/chosen

Randall wrote:
I have seen this man before, on a TV documentary. My impression of him was that he had clearly gone through some personal turmoil about his sexuality in his teenaged years. He then went on to have alcohol and drugs problems, as well as some erratic life choices. He seemed retrospectively to be re-remembering his early sexual experiences as negative ones, in order to make sense of his life experiences.
Like you, I suspect he is applying a narrative retrospectively. It's interesting to compare his radio/TV interviews (e.g. one, two [below], three) with those of the men in the 2008 documentary (as well as those in this Channel 4 report and interview), in terms of what they say and how they say it. Another difference between them is that they appear to have been boys who were well-behaved and wanted to please their teachers, whereas Ian McFadyen was expelled from his next school. Although this could have been an effect of past abuse, it also raises questions about how he behaved at Caldicott and why, if he was a difficult child, abusers would have gone to the trouble of targeting him ("after he was expelled from his next school at the age of 15, his life lurched into “absolute chaos” (source [this is also yet another version of what he says happened at what age]). It's also surprising to me that an abuse victim with painful memories should dwell on the issue on a virtually daily basis over months and years as he appears to have done, judging from his postings on Twitter. I have my doubts and wonder if there is a parallel with this (about which there are also reports/documentaries on YouTube).

he seems an aggressive sort of bloke and admits he was a horrible rent boy at some stage but...but...I'm a bit over people re-living bad events that happened decades ago and allowing that to define what they are today.

I've had some pretty horrible things happen to me but I sort of put it down to experience and move on.

Living in the past...why?

A few comments:

a) I was at Caldicott and knew Ian McFadyen (1 year above me). I was never aware of any specific instances of abuse to any boy BUT it was well known and talked about among the boys that Peter Wright and others were "touchy feely" with certain boys. I find it difficult to believe that Nick Clegg could not have been aware of this.

b) George Hill groomed me and must have had the intention of taking his actions further. By grooming I mean being invited (required) to have a bath in his private room etc this happened to me on a number of occasions and I was known as "a favourite" of Mr Hill.....

c) Then, for reasons unknown to me, I fell out of Mr Hill's favour - in fact, I recall he became rather unpleasant towards me and I was asking myself "what have I done wrong"....

d) Clearly I had escaped further abuse.....how lucky I was.

These bastards deserve what they got. It's a shame on the British legal system that this was not actioned by the police/CPS earlier or effectively.

So the extent of your interaction with George Hill was having a bath in his quarters?

I went to a prep school too where the headmaster engaged in what would now be described as 'grooming' or 'inappropriate behaviour'-befriending me and then inviting me to his private flat (that was in the school grounds). Once when I was taking ages to get dressed after a post-match shower he rubbed me down with a towel himself so I would get a move on. He got notorious for looking at the boys when they showered for 'health and safety reasons'. (However, he did have a general, ridiculous obsession with health and safety that went far beyond what could have been explained as an excuse for 'creepy' behaviour.) And what was the upshot of all this 'grooming'? He showed me all the language books in his flat on several occasions and bored me rigid talking about Serbo-Croat grammar-his favourite subject. He was lonely because-for whatever reason- he was not married and maybe he tried to make friends with his pupils as a result (I wasn't the only one.) Some of his 'inappropriate' behaviour would be explained by his sense that he was 'in loco parentis'. But try convincing anyone of that in this day and age.

The point is that behaviour that would be seen as paedophilia now was seen as a most rather strange back then. I could easily work all the above up into an abuse allegation, especially when linked to his excessive use of corporal punishment (which was a bit much even for a prep school in the early 1980s.) But why the hell would I want to do that rather than accuse the man who actually did groom me for sexual reasons when I was 14? Because the latter was a dirty old man who lived in a council flat who must have died years ago. Whereas if I turned my former headmaster's weirdish behaviour into something a bit stronger with a bit of embellishment, I could put in a compensation claim against the school (although the headmaster himself is also dead.) Maybe I could even turn myself into a bit of a minor celebrity. But frankly, that would be immoral.

Mark W wrote:
I was never aware of any specific instances of abuse to any boy BUT it was well known and talked about among the boys...

... well, say no more! That's good enough for a conviction beyond reasonable doubt these days.