Fettes College faces probe into claims of sex abuse

One of Edinburgh's most exclusive private schools is facing a police investigation into allegations of historic child sex abuse.

Fettes College is one of Edinburgh's most exclusive schools. Image: Contributed

Fettes College – which boasts former Prime ­Minister Tony Blair among its famous alumni – is understood to be at the centre of decades-old allegations of sexual ­misconduct by staff and even governors.

It is the latest of Scotland’s most prestigious schools to be implicated in a historic abuse scandal.

Merchiston Castle in Edinburgh has seen two former members of staff charged with sexual offences allegedly ­committed in the 1960s.

Meanwhile, a former teacher at Gordonstoun school in Moray has appeared in court accused of crimes in the 1980s.

The Fettes claims relate to incidents said to have taken place from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s.

Names passed to police are believed to include individuals linked to the so-called ‘Magic Circle’ scandal of the early 1990s.

Senior legal figures were accused of conspiring to ensure homosexual ­criminals were treated leniently by the courts, but an inquiry found the claims to be baseless.

Police Scotland said that a report on the Fettes allegations would be passed to the procurator fiscal.

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