Former Skegby Hall housemaster found guilty of abusing five boys in the 1960s

A former housemaster at an Ashfield borstal has been found guilty of sexually abusing five vulnerable boys in the 1960s.
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Nigel Pipe was convicted of 27 offences committed while working at Skegby Hall, an approved boys school in Sutton.

During a three-week trial, Nottingham Crown Court heard Pipe "repeatedly abused his position of trust" in abusing the boys, all aged under 16.

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Judge Julie Warburton said the 87-year-old should expect a lengthy sentence.

Nigel Pipe appeared before Nottingham Crown CourtNigel Pipe appeared before Nottingham Crown Court
Nigel Pipe appeared before Nottingham Crown Court

The jury found Pipe guilty of four counts of buggery, nine counts of indecency with a child and 14 counts of indecent assault on a male.

Earlier in the trial, one of the victims, who can’t be named for legal reasons, described how Pipe would enter his bedroom, sit on the side of his bed in his pyjamas and make him touch Pipe inappropriately.

“After the first time it became a regular, probably a nightly occurrence,” he said. “He would come in and do the same thing.

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“I don't know how long that went on for – before the first time when he took me out of the bedroom.”

The court heard Pipe allegedly took the boy downstairs to the basement area where he made him perform a sex act.

“I was never frightened there,” the complainant said. “My only bad experience of that place was Pipe.”

Visibly upset, the man said: “It was a long time, I don't know how long. One year. Two years. After making me touch him all the time.

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“We were on a camping trip. And that's when he first raped me.

“It was the second night or the third night. He took me into his tent. He really hurt me. Because he was a big man and I was just a little boy.”

The complainant said he ‘seemed to recall’ an argument between Pipe and another member of staff shortly afterwards.

"My name was being mentioned all the time,” he said. “I don't know if that's true or not true. He never touched me after that. I don't remember him right from the beginning. I think he left before I left.”

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Pipe, of Llanwenarth View in Govilon, Abergavenny, will be sentenced on Thursday, October 14.

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