Former Skegby Hall housemaster 'will die in prison' after being jailed for more than 20 years for vile abuse of young boys

A former Ashfield boys home housemaster is set to die behind bars after being jailed for more than two decades for the sickening abuse of five young boys more than 50 years ago.
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Nigel Pipe was this week convicted of four counts of buggery, nine counts of indecency with a child and 14 counts of indecent assault on a male, which took place when he was a housemaster at the approved school for boys, at Skegby Hall, on Mansfield Road, Sutton, during the 1960s.

The 87-year-old man heard harrowing testimonies from his surviving victims before he was jailed for 26 years.

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Judge Julie Warburton told Pipe the boys were in a ‘particularly vulnerable situation’, but afraid to challenge authority.

Nigel Pipe.Nigel Pipe.
Nigel Pipe.

The jury heard ‘sometimes harrowing evidence’of Pipe removing the boys from their beds and taking them to secluded places, where he molested and ‘systematically raped them’.

Judge Warburton said: “They were painful and disturbing incidents which they were forced to live with for more than 50 years.

“You have essentially escaped blame and justice. These men have carried the burden for the same period – never thinking they would be believed.

“That day has now arrived.”

Skegby Hall.Skegby Hall.
Skegby Hall.
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Sarah Knight, prosecuting, said one of the victims died before Pipe was brought to justice, but two attended Nottingham Crown Court to see him jailed.

One told the court: “There have been times when I have been driving when I have thought of driving straight into a wall.”

Read the latest stories from Nottingham Crown Court.Read the latest stories from Nottingham Crown Court.
Read the latest stories from Nottingham Crown Court.

Another said: “You took my childhood away and made me feel ashamed. You took advantage of me as a child.

“Because of what you did to me my mum suffered because of my bad behaviour. I now know it was your fault not hers. My mum died not even knowing what happened to me.”

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One man spoke of suffering post-traumatic nightmares which caused him to injure himself, triggering a serious bout of illness.

Flashbacks of what he suffered led to a breakdown and early retirement, he said.

He told the court: “I am unable to trust people. I stay away from anyone in authority. We should have been protected - not abused.”

Mark Barlow, mitigating, said Pipe ‘still maintains he did not commit any of these offences’.

He said: “The reality is he will die in prison.”

Pipe, of Llanwenarth View, Govilon, Abergavenny, was jailed for a total of 26 years.

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