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An 18-year-old woman has pleaded guilty to murdering 16-year-old Chloe Watson Dransfield, a dramatic change of plea on the second day of a Leeds murder trial at Leeds Crown Court. Two co-defendants deny any part in the killing, and their trial goes on.

Plea changed on the second day

Kayla Smith had previously admitted manslaughter but denied murder. On Thursday she changed that plea to guilty of murder. The judge, Mr Justice Cavanagh KC, said he would sentence her once the trial has finished. He told her the only sentence available was life imprisonment, but that he would still have to decide the minimum term she must serve in custody.

Blake Dowling, 18, and Archie Rycroft, 20, are charged with murder and manslaughter. Both deny the charges, and the jury will continue to hear the case against them. Nothing in the evidence reported so far amounts to a finding against either man.

What the court has heard

The prosecution says Chloe was fatally stabbed in the early hours of 28 March, after going to Smith’s home in the Austhorpe area of east Leeds. The court heard Dowling had been in a relationship with both young women and “knew of the bad feeling between the two”, although they had never met in person. Dowling’s mother told the court that Smith was “jealous and obsessed” over her son’s relationship with Chloe.

Jurors heard that the two argued by phone the previous evening and that Smith threatened several times to “stab her”. A friend of Chloe’s, who was on FaceTime with her that night, told the court she heard Smith shouting down the phone. The friend said she heard the words “I’m gonna stab you in your throat” after Chloe confirmed she was with Dowling.

The two agreed to fight, and Dowling booked a taxi to take Chloe to the address. The friend said Chloe told her she was “off to get the fight that I’ve wanted for ages”. Asked by Gill Batts KC, defending Dowling, what she expected, the witness replied “just themselves, nothing else”, meaning she understood there would be no weapons.

CCTV and the prosecution case

The court was shown CCTV and doorbell footage. It showed Smith leaving an outbuilding in her grandfather’s garden holding a knife, with Rycroft following her. Chloe could be heard shouting “come on big girl”. Smith and Rycroft were then seen running back to the outbuilding. Chloe had been stabbed five times in the neck and back and bled to death.

Footage timed at 5.12am, about a minute after the stabbing, shows Smith, Rycroft and Smith’s grandfather outside the building. The court heard the grandfather say he would ring the police and Smith reply, “You can’t ring the police, she’s dead.” He called for an ambulance 37 minutes after the stabbing, and a neighbour saw him performing CPR on Chloe on the footpath. She was taken to hospital and pronounced dead at 6.40am.

Prosecutor Mark McKone KC set out how the Crown puts its case against the two men who deny the charges. He said Rycroft is accused of murder “by walking with Kayla Smith to the fight and by trying to film Kayla Smith using violence and by providing support to her, if needed”. Dowling, he said, knew Smith wanted to stab Chloe and, by booking the taxi, “played a part in organising the violence”. Dowling is alleged to have assisted and encouraged Smith by taking Chloe to the scene.

The prosecution also told the court that when police arrested Smith and Rycroft, they were “laughing and joking” with two friends and using nitrous oxide in front of officers.

The defendants’ accounts differ from the prosecution’s. McKone said Dowling denied knowing Chloe would be caused really serious harm. Rycroft says he followed Smith out of curiosity and did not see that she had a knife.

With Smith’s plea entered, the Leeds murder trial now turns to the cases against Dowling and Rycroft, and the jury will decide those charges on the evidence. Smith will be sentenced only when that process is over.

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The Walliams police investigation was confirmed on Friday, when the Metropolitan Police said it had launched a criminal inquiry into “alleged serious sexual offences”. No arrest has been made and nobody has been charged. David Walliams has denied any wrongdoing.

In line with police policy, the Met did not name the man under investigation. It described him only as “a man now in his 50s”. Media outlets including the BBC and the Guardian have reported that the inquiry concerns Walliams, who is 55.

What the Met has said

In a statement, the force said it had “received a number of allegations of non-recent serious sexual offences”. It said those who had come forward were being supported by specialist officers.

The Guardian reports that the new allegations are understood to have come from several people. Some are said to date back to the 2000s. At least some of those people are understood to have contacted police this week. Their initial accounts, given to detectives from the Met’s specialist crime division, were enough for the force to open a full criminal investigation. It is being led by officers who specialise in serious and complex sexual offences.

Police declined to say what the alleged offences were, or where and when they are said to have happened. They said this was to reduce the chance of complainants being identified, and they stressed that those making allegations are entitled to lifelong anonymity. The Guardian reports that no searches have been carried out.

Separate from the media reports

The Met stressed that the allegations it is investigating are separate from those published by ITV News and the Guardian earlier this week. It added that detectives are “proactively reviewing that reporting to establish whether there is any evidence of offences”. That is a review of the published material, not a finding about it.

The media reports followed a court’s rejection of a legal attempt to stop publication. They included allegations from women who said Walliams used his fame to pursue young women and teenagers. Two women told the Guardian they first met him when they were 15 and felt they had been groomed. Other allegations relate to Britain’s Got Talent and to his former publisher, HarperCollins.

Walliams has strongly denied any sexual contact with a girl who described an alleged encounter at 15 as a sexual assault. He has also denied ever grooming young women.

Walliams’s response

In a letter to the journalists, Walliams acknowledged that he had “behaved thoughtlessly” towards some people with whom he had casual sexual relationships and said he regretted it. He added that while a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, “abusing that power… is something I never did”.

“I am not a sexual predator,” he wrote. “I have not broken the law.” He said he was “devastated” that some women he met 10 to 20 years ago had expressed hurt or anger. The Guardian reports that he is currently in a medical facility.

Fremantle, the producer of Britain’s Got Talent, has urged anyone who “feels they have been the subject of wrongdoing” to come forward, according to Deadline. It has not launched a formal investigation.

Detective Superintendent Mike Cagney, whose team is leading the inquiry, urged anyone who has been the victim of a sexual offence to contact police “no matter when it happened”. He said specialist officers could provide support, answer questions and guide people through the process.

The investigation is at an early stage. No decision has been taken on whether anyone will be charged, and Walliams is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

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A British soldier charged with rape is being held in custody after the Defence Serious Crime Command (DSCC) said he was accused of attacking a woman serving with the UK armed forces in Cyprus. The man is Lance Corporal Nicholas Horne of the 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, also known as the Highlanders. He is accused of one count of rape. The allegation has not been tested in court and he is not guilty of anything unless a court-martial finds otherwise.

Timeline of the soldier charged with rape case

According to the DSCC, as reported by the BBC, the Guardian and the Independent, the command was informed of the alleged offence on 17 October. Horne was arrested two days later, on 19 October, and charged on 23 October. The complainant is described only as a woman serving with British Forces Cyprus.

Horne has been remanded in custody pending a court-martial hearing. No date for any hearing has been given in the reports. The charge followed an investigation by the DSCC’s major crime team, which the Guardian says worked with service police partners. The DSCC investigates serious crime allegedly committed by people subject to service law, in the UK and overseas.

What the Army has said

An Army spokesperson confirmed that Horne was charged on 23 October 2026 with one count of rape, contrary to section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act, following the DSCC investigation. “There is no place for criminal behaviour in the Army, and we recognise the great courage it takes to come forward and report an offence,” the spokesperson said. They added that anyone convicted of a sexual offence will be discharged from the service.

The DSCC has also encouraged anyone affected by sexual offences in the armed forces to contact it.

Wider context for the military

The case comes as the Ministry of Defence faces continued scrutiny over sexual misconduct in the forces. The Guardian notes that the MoD announced last year that specialist teams would be deployed at military locations in the UK and overseas. That followed the department’s first official survey of sexual harassment across the armed forces, which found nearly one in 10 women serving full-time in the British military had experienced an assault or other non-consensual sexual activity in the previous year. These figures are background and say nothing about the specific allegation against Horne.

Britain retains two sovereign base areas in Cyprus, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, under the 1960 treaty that established the island’s independence. British Forces Cyprus is based there.

Because proceedings are active, further detail is likely to emerge only through the court-martial process. For now, the reported facts are limited to the dates of the report, arrest and charge, the single count, and Horne’s remand in custody while he awaits a hearing.

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The Tim Westwood trial is set to cover 17 charges after the former Radio 1 DJ pleaded not guilty on Thursday to two further sexual offences. He denies all of the allegations, which relate to nine women and span the years 1983 to 2016.

The 69-year-old, of Fitzrovia in central London, appeared at Southwark Crown Court, where he entered pleas to the two new counts. According to reports from the BBC, the Guardian, the Evening Standard and the Independent, the first alleges indecent assault on a teenage girl in west London in 1991. The second alleges sexual assault on an 18-year-old woman in south London in May 2004. He denied both.

How the case has grown

Westwood was first charged in October 2025 with offences against seven women. The Evening Standard reports that the two latest charges were brought in September this year. That brings the total to nine complainants.

The earlier allegations, all of which he denies, are as follows:

• four indecent assaults in London in the 1980s
• three indecent assaults at the BBC in the 1990s
• one rape in a hotel in 1996
• two indecent assaults and one rape at a London address in the early 2000s
• two rapes at a London address in the 2010s
• a sexual assault at a nightclub in Stroud, Gloucestershire, in 2010
• a sexual assault at a London music festival in 2016

These are allegations only. None has been tested in court, and Westwood has entered a not guilty plea to every count.

What happens next in the Tim Westwood trial

Westwood has been granted conditional bail. The BBC and the Standard report that the trial is due to start at Southwark Crown Court on 27 January and to last seven weeks. The Guardian and the Independent say only that it will take place in January.

The Standard adds that a pre-trial review is scheduled for 8 December. Westwood does not have to attend it.

The Tim Westwood trial will be heard by a jury, which will have to consider each count on the evidence presented. The court has not yet heard that evidence.

Westwood rose to prominence on Capital Radio in the late 1980s, hosting the Capital Rap Show, and later became a leading voice in hip-hop broadcasting at BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra. The Guardian reports that he left Radio 1 and 1Xtra in 2013 after nearly 20 years. He then stepped down from his Capital Xtra show in 2022, after allegations were reported, according to the Standard.

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Anti-migrant activist Daniel Thomas, also known as Danny Tommo, has admitted criminal damage after slashing a dinghy with a knife in the English Channel, and will be sentenced on 18 November.

The 37-year-old changed his plea to the single charge when he appeared by video link from prison at Portsmouth Crown Court on Thursday. He had previously pleaded not guilty. He remains in custody, and the Evening Standard reports he has been held for seven weeks.

What the court has heard about the 22 September incident

The account of events comes from the prosecution case set out at an earlier hearing at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court, as reported by the BBC, the Guardian and the Standard. Prosecutor Kevin Lucie told that court that Thomas took a boat into the Channel on 22 September and saw the occupants of a dinghy being helped by the RNLI, Border Force and the French coastguard.

Mr Lucie said Thomas instructed that his vessel be steered towards an empty rigid inflatable boat that was adrift. The court heard he then armed himself with a knife as rescue crews also approached the craft, and that a Frenchman boarded the dinghy from a rescue vessel. The Associated Press, citing social media video, reported that the dinghy had no migrants aboard but was occupied by a member of the French rescue services.

After the dinghy was slashed, Thomas could be heard on a livestream saying: “This is what needs to happen to everyone in these boats. Right, you’re on English territory. This is England, this is not France anymore. Get off the boat, you have time to get off the boat. This is not France. Take them back.”

A second charge Daniel Thomas still denies

The plea does not end the case. Thomas reiterated his not guilty plea to a separate charge of failing to disclose the PIN to his phone to police, brought under section 53 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. That allegation remains to be decided, and he is presumed innocent of it.

Judge James Newton-Price KC set the sentencing date of 18 November. The court’s address for Thomas was withheld at a previous hearing.

What sentencing could involve

The BBC and the Standard both cite the Sentencing Council on the range of penalties. Where criminal damage is valued at more than £5,000, the maximum sentence is 10 years’ imprisonment. Where the damage is valued at less than £5,000, the maximum is a fine and three months in jail. The reports note that Thomas will receive credit for his guilty plea. Which category the damage falls into, and what penalty follows, are matters for the court.

The wider context

Thomas is described in reports as the founder of Patriot Platform, an umbrella movement that the Guardian says brought together dozens of nationalist protest groups over the summer. According to the Guardian and AP, hundreds of masked and hooded anti-migrant activists aligned with the group descended on Dover and Portsmouth earlier in September. Hampshire Police later said police, coastguard and Border Force vehicles were damaged and a few officers suffered minor injuries. The government has condemned what it called the “intimidating and thuggish behaviour” of anti-immigrant demonstrators, AP reported.

The footage drew criticism from refugee charities. The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and Stand Up to Racism condemned his actions as violent and dangerous, the Guardian reported. The RNLI said the people rescued had been in the water for 36 hours, thought to be the longest small-boat passengers had spent on a Channel crossing, and that there were fears of a “catastrophic failure” of their dinghy. The French coastguard said about 60 people had spent more than 33 hours at sea in precarious conditions.

AP reported that more than 41,000 people made the crossing last year, and that Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government says closer law enforcement cooperation with France has cut crossings so far this year by more than 40% compared with 2025.

The court will hear the case again on 18 November, when Daniel Thomas is due to be sentenced for the criminal damage offence.

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An 11-month-old baby buried alive in a dog crate has been found alive in woodland in South Carolina after a search involving around 100 officers and first responders, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department. The boy is in hospital, and the sheriff said he hopes for a full recovery.

The case is at an early stage. The child’s father, 25-year-old Michael Comer, was arrested on Monday evening on charges of burglary and resisting arrest. He has not been charged over the baby’s discovery, and police are working with the local solicitor’s office to decide whether to bring further charges. The details below are the account given by police and reported by news outlets, and nothing has been tested in court.

How the search for the missing baby unfolded

Sheriff Jay Koon told a news conference that the boy went missing on Monday morning. He had been left in his father’s care briefly while a relative stepped out, with another caregiver due to arrive. By the time that person got there, the father and child were gone, Koon said. Police were called around midday.

Officers found the doors of a nearby family home open and the baby’s belongings inside, but no sign of either of them. Investigators later found video of the father in the Batesburg-Leesville area without the child, the sheriff said. Comer was arrested late on Monday, reportedly in an outbuilding at a house in Batesburg. Koon said he “did not have much to say” about where the baby was.

Freshly disturbed dirt and the sound of crying

A wider search followed, joined by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. On Tuesday afternoon, searchers in woods roughly 50 yards from a family member’s home noticed “freshly disturbed” dirt and pine straw. As they probed the ground and began digging, they heard a baby crying.

Koon called it “the most joyful sound you ever heard” and said the baby was found “buried alive” and “clinging to life”. “The race was on,” he said, as officers worked to free the child.

The sheriff described a wire crate of roughly two feet by two feet, wrapped in a towel and covered with about a foot of soil. He said the towel probably created an air pocket that let the boy survive, and that the cold weather may have stopped him overheating. Police estimate he had been underground for about 24 hours.

What happens next

Authorities have not said what further charges may follow in the baby buried alive case, and Comer’s response to any allegation has not been reported. His mother, Patricia Comer, told media she had never expected this from her son and that his being in custody was “where he needs to be”, according to the reports.

Koon said he hoped the child would not remember the ordeal. For now, the key questions are what charges prosecutors bring and how the boy recovers in hospital.

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A US soldier arrested near Gloucester on suspicion of espionage linked to Russia is being held at a London police station while counter-terrorism officers continue what they describe as a serious and ongoing investigation. The man has not been charged, and the allegations remain unproven.

What police say about the arrest

According to a Metropolitan Police statement, the 41-year-old was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of breaching two sections of the National Security Act 2023. The offences relate to assisting a foreign intelligence service and to obtaining or disclosing protected information. His name has not been released.

The Independent reports that the arrest followed a joint investigation by British Counter Terrorism Policing, MI5, the FBI and US Army counterintelligence. Police said officers are searching two locations in Gloucestershire.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Vicki Evans, the UK’s senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism policing, called it a “significant arrest and investigation”. She said the allegations are “serious and our investigation is very much ongoing”.

Where the soldier was reportedly based

The Independent reports that the serviceman was based at Imjin Barracks in Innsworth, headquarters of NATO’s Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. Fox News describes him as a senior US Army soldier. The sources do not set out his role or duties, and police have not said what information may be involved.

Reaction from Washington

US officials stressed the strength of the transatlantic partnership. FBI Director Kash Patel called it an “important arrest” and said espionage allegations of this kind are of “utmost concern” to the US and its allies. “This FBI has no tolerance for anyone who breaks their oath to the United States and whose actions endanger our national security and that of our partners,” he said.

Sean Stinchon, commanding general of the US Army Counterintelligence Command, said the case “demonstrates the strength of our partnerships and the resolve of the counterintelligence community.”

Separate from the RAF Fairford case

Police said the arrest is not related to other counter-terrorism investigations. Al Jazeera reads this as meaning it is not linked to a suspected Iran-linked plot in September at RAF Fairford, the Gloucestershire base that hosts the US Air Force. After that threat, the US Air Force withdrew bombers used to strike Iran from the base. The two cases are being treated as unconnected.

What happens next

Under UK law, police can hold a suspect for a limited period before they must charge or release him, though the sources do not say how long he may be held. Until a charging decision is made, the accusations are only suspicions. Neither police nor US officials have offered details of the alleged conduct. The fact that this US soldier arrested on British soil is the subject of a joint UK-US inquiry shows how seriously both governments are treating the case.

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Former NFL head coach and ESPN analyst Rex Ryan charged with six misdemeanor offenses: Nashville police say he turned himself in on Wednesday over an alleged incident in which two pedestrians were struck by a car in the city’s downtown. Ryan, 63, is accused of leaving the scene. The allegations have not been tested in court.

What police say happened

According to Nashville police, the two pedestrians were crossing a main street in the popular downtown tourist area last week and had the right of way. Police allege Ryan turned at a red light and drove over their feet. The pair suffered minor injuries, police said.

Reports citing police say the pedestrians told officers they flagged down the driver at the next red light, and that he got out of the vehicle to argue with them. They also took a photo of the driver and the car’s license plate, police said.

The charges and what happens next

Court records show Ryan faces two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, two counts of failing to give information or render aid, and two counts of failing to obey a traffic control signal. All six are misdemeanors. He is accused of these offenses and has not been convicted of anything.

Ryan turned himself in at Nashville’s Downtown Detention Center early Wednesday. A judicial commissioner set his bond at $6,000, but he qualified for pretrial release and was freed on non-financial conditions. He is scheduled to appear in court next month. The court records cited by the outlets did not name an attorney for Ryan, and none of the reports included a response from him to the allegations.

ESPN’s response

Ryan is one of the analysts on ESPN’s NFL pregame coverage. He appeared on the network’s Sunday pregame show and on a morning show on Monday, both taped in New York. In a statement, ESPN said: “We are aware and are in touch with Rex.” An ESPN source told The Independent that no decision on possible disciplinary action had been made because the network was still gathering information.

That leaves Ryan’s broadcasting future unresolved while the case moves forward. Whether the network acts before his court appearance is unclear from the available reporting.

A familiar name in football

Ryan coached the New York Jets from 2009 to 2014 and the Buffalo Bills from 2015 to 2016, leading the Jets to consecutive AFC championship games after the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He became known for his brash, colorful news conferences. He has not coached since the Bills fired him with one game left in the 2016 season, though he has said he is interested in returning and interviewed for the Jets’ head coaching vacancy in 2025. His father, the late Buddy Ryan, was a celebrated defensive coordinator with the 1985 Chicago Bears.

For now, the case rests on police statements and court filings. With Rex Ryan charged only with misdemeanors, and his first court date weeks away, the allegations will be tested in court rather than by the account given so far.

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An Ohio State fraternity has been placed on interim suspension after a video circulating on social media appeared to show two panicked men on fire, prompting parallel investigations by the university and Columbus police. No arrests or charges have been reported.

What the video appears to show

According to Associated Press reporting carried by the Guardian and the Independent, the footage shows one man with his sweatpants on fire. He lunges at a second man and tackles him to the ground. The second man’s clothing also catches fire. The pair roll on the ground and remove their clothes while several onlookers step in to help. Al Jazeera, which described the video as potentially disturbing, said spectators could be seen laughing during what it called a party. The other outlets did not include that detail.

University and police response

University spokesperson Benjamin Johnson said Ohio State has placed the Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter on interim suspension while it investigates, and has referred the matter to both university police and Columbus police. “The university is aware of this extremely concerning incident, and the individuals in question are receiving medical care,” Johnson said. He added that the university expects students and student groups to uphold a safe and healthy environment. The sources do not say how badly either man was hurt, and they differ slightly on the number needing treatment. The Independent’s subheading refers to one person needing medical care, while Johnson’s statement refers to “individuals.”

Columbus police Sgt. Joe Albert said the incident appears to have happened on Saturday. Officers received no calls for service at the location at the time, he said. Police only became aware on Sunday evening, when someone phoned to report that the video was circulating online. The sources do not say where the incident happened, what caused the fires, or whether anyone has been identified.

The fraternity’s position

Sigma Alpha Epsilon’s chief executive, Steve Mitchell, said behavior that violates the organization’s standards has no place in it. He said the fraternity is “actively investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident” and working with university officials and local law enforcement. It will, he said, hold those responsible accountable based on what the investigation finds.

What remains unclear

An interim suspension is a holding measure while an inquiry takes place. It is not a finding about what happened or who, if anyone, was responsible. The reports leave several key questions unanswered, including how the fires started, whether the two men were members of the chapter, and what the police inquiry might lead to. Ohio State’s Columbus campus has more than 60,000 students, and the university’s statement suggests it is treating the episode as a serious safety concern.

The Ohio State fraternity investigation is at an early stage. Further detail is likely to depend on what police and the university establish in the coming days.

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The Edinburgh Academy abuse scandal has been laid out in stark detail by the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI), which has found that pupils at the private school endured more than four decades of sexual, physical and emotional mistreatment while staff looked away. Inquiry chair Lady Smith published her findings on Tuesday 10 November 2026.

A school ‘focused on its reputation’

Lady Smith, a former judge, concluded that the school protected its reputation above the welfare of children. She said Edinburgh Academy “failed to look at itself through a realistic and critical lens” for decades and assumed that abuse “did not and would not take place”.

“When it did, the school could not accept that it had happened, failed to address it, and failed to recognise the risk of it continuing. Complacency was the order of the day,” she said. Complaints were “either disbelieved or left unresolved”, and staff “chose not to notice” despite “obvious signs of abuse”.

The inquiry heard allegations against 20 members of teaching staff, with most evidence covering 1954 to 1995. Nearly 50 witnesses gave evidence. Lady Smith found that some boarders lived in a “permanent state of fear” and that violence was “part and parcel of an aggressive and rigid culture that persisted into the 1990s”.

Names in the report

The report names housemaster and senior school teacher Hamish Dawson, who died in 2009, and housemaster and junior school deputy head John Brownlee as perpetrators. In 2024 a court ruled that Brownlee, then 89, had committed “cruel and unnatural acts” of physical and emotional abuse on pupils between 1967 and 1991. He was found medically unfit to stand trial and was not sentenced.

The report also names former teacher Iain Wares, who is facing allegations. He lives in South Africa, where extradition proceedings to return him to Scotland are continuing. He has not been tried in relation to those allegations, and the report’s findings do not determine any criminal case against him.

Racism, homophobia and misogyny

Lady Smith’s findings extended beyond individual abusers. She found homophobia was rife, and racism was prevalent even in the prep school, often involving anti-English sentiment. Some pupils were abused by other pupils because they were Jewish or because of their skin colour. Girls faced “unpleasant abusive misogyny” after co-education was introduced in the sixth form.

The report quotes a former pupil who gave evidence under the pseudonym Henry. He spent nine years at the school and described it as “normal to kick, hit and strangle to the point of unconsciousness 10-year-olds”. He also said it was normal to inflict punishment “with a plank of wood with no good reason”. He told the inquiry that “endless cycles of bullying” went unchecked and that there was no safeguarding.

Reaction from survivors, lawyers and the school

Broadcaster Nicky Campbell, who attended the school between 1966 and 1978 and gave evidence, said his overriding feeling was sadness for those affected, and that the lasting effects of school abuse are “lifelong”. He stressed that the report should not reflect on current teachers or pupils, but warned: “Someone, somewhere is being abused who needs our protection.”

Former pupils welcomed the findings. One said the report “absolutely, perfectly captured what happened to us”.

Lawyers for survivors sounded a more critical note about the school’s conduct after the events. Laura Connor of Thompsons Solicitors Scotland, who represents a number of survivors, said that while the school’s current leadership has apologised, it has behaved in a “very difficult and uncooperative way” in settling civil claims. “That must end,” she said. Kim Leslie of Irwin Mitchell Scotland, who also represents survivors, welcomed the report as the product of former pupils’ bravery and persistence.

Rector Barry Welsh called the report “sombre reading” and repeated the school’s “sincere apology” to everyone affected. He said the school’s commitment to facing up to “the wrongs of the past” remains “unwavering” and that it continues to support survivors.

The findings come after the school previously apologised for “brutal and unrestrained” historical abuse. The inquiry’s account of Edinburgh Academy abuse now sets out in an official record how that culture was allowed to persist, with some legal proceedings still ongoing.

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