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Tom Minogue

TOM MINOGUE'S COMPLAINT TO CENTRAL SCOTLAND POLICE ABOUT QVS


On 30th September 2003, I (Tom Minogue) made a formal complaint to Central Scotland Police re allegations of physical and sexual abuse at Queen Victoria School Dunblane. Despite this detailed and comprehensive document, giving details of abuse at QVS, Thomas Hamilton’s presence and influence at QVS, and the failures of HM Commissioners at QVS to discharge their duty of care—the police have yet to investigate these serious allegations.  Why?

Is it because the allegations relate to abuse of pupils by leading members of Scotland’s elite at a military school run by the MOD?LINK

Is it because the Commissioners at QVS Dunblane, who include the Secretary of State for Scotland, the Lord Justice-Clerk, and General Officer Commanding, Army (Scotland), were negligent as Commissioners, in that they allowed visitors including Thomas Hamilton access to the pupils at the school?

Is it because the Commissioners/police were negligent when the allegations of bullying and abuse at the school were first made by a housemaster in 1989-allegations which, if properly investigated at the time, might have led to criminal charges being brought against Hamilton and others, thus preventing the 1996 Dunblane massacre?LINK

I would set out my involvement leading to the police complaint as follows:

On 29th January 2004, while processing a petition through the Scottish Parliament, I was asked by the Justice 2 Committee of that parliament to submit examples of cases where membership of organisations such as the Freemasons had caused problems in court cases.LINK

Though strictly speaking not a court case, the Dunblane Public Inquiry and the events leading to it are seen by many as an example of improper Masonic influence shaping events.  I researched these matters and in so doing corresponded by e-mail and telephone with a teacher who had been a housemaster at Queen Victoria School Dunblane between 1989 and 1992.  This teacher had made allegations of physical and sexual abuse at the school.

The allegations made by the ex-housemaster formed part of my submission to the Justice 2 Committee in February 2004.LINK   The Dunblane example was one of five cases cited by me.  The Justice 2 Committee took the unusual if not unique step of refusing to print any of my written submissions.LINK  They did so without giving their reasons for doing so, but hinted that my submissions might be defamatory.  Why?

If the Justice 2 Committee had genuinely considered that extracts from the five submissions I made were defamatory, they could have selectively censored the offending sections, deleting names or whatever, and posted the redacted versions.   This is normal practice.

One of the cases I cited was a Social Security Commissioner’s decision, a public document, reproduced with the permission of the appellant and freely obtainable to members of the public.  The remaining four examples cited had all been the subject of press coverage—so what I was claiming was hardly new or actionable.  Furthermore, I had also reproduced my submissions in full on the internet where they sit to this day.   Why the total censoring?

I was left to conclude that, within my comments regarding the Dunblane Inquiry, the mention of events at Queen Victoria School and Thomas Hamilton’s links to the school, which at that time had not appeared in the national press, was the cause of the draconian measure of total censorship of all of my submissions.

The specific new material I referred to was:

a/ The possibility that membership of the Speculative Society of Edinburgh might have resulted in Lord Cullen (sodality No 1702LINK) either consciously or subconsciously steering clear of a scandal that involved his superior in the judiciary and fellow members of the Spec who were governors at the school.  Prince Philip another member of the Speculative SocietyLINK was Patron of the School.LINK

b/ The possibility that the person who gave Lord Cullen his commission and terms of reference to inquire into the events leading up to and including the Dunblane massacre, the Scottish Secretary, Michael Forsyth who was the Chairman of the Board of Management at Queen Victoria School might have resulted in Lord Cullen either consciously or subconsciously steering clear of a scandal that involved the school.LINK

c/ The possibility that Lord Cullen who was himself a visitor to the school between 1989 and 2002 might have been embarrassed if it became known that another visitor to the school at the same time was Thomas Hamilton.

d/ The possibility of embarrassment due to the fact that the many visitors to the school who arrived at QVS in big fancy cars (some with flags and crest badges) and took boys away for the weekend were said to have included judges and other senior members of the establishment.LINK

After failing to have the Justice 2 Committee consider or comment on the examples that they had requested, I nevertheless continued to correspond and meet with the ex-housemaster at QVS and researched his claims.  As part of this process I looked at the four distinct accusations he made, which were:

1/ That Thomas Hamilton was a frequent and influential visitor to QVS.

2/ That numerous complaints were made about bullying and abuse at QVS between 1989 and 1992, but these complaints were not investigated by the police.

3/ That Her Majesty’s Commissioners were in ignorance or denial of the above facts.

4/ That Masonic influence assisted in the abuse at the school and prevented a proper investigation taking place.

[1] The first claim that Hamilton was a frequent and influential visitor to QVS was easily confirmed by reference to the Official Report of the Dunblane Inquiry, which quoted three separate witnesses who spoke of Hamilton’s association with QVS as follows:

Grace Jones Ogilvie his neighbour spoke of Hamilton holding camps for his boys club in the school grounds.LINK

Robert Mark Ure another neighbour of Hamilton’s spoke of how his ex-wife used the shooting range at QVS with Hamilton.LINK

Ian Steven Boal a friend and colleague of Hamilton in his boys clubs spoke of how Hamilton had used his influence at the school to obtain him (Boal) a job as a teacher at a summer school at QVS.LINK

Despite these three witnesses who spoke of Hamilton’s (an unemployed person at the time) significant presence in the school no challenge to this evidence was made and no cross-examination of this evidence was led by any of the legal representatives at the Inquiry, or Lord Cullen; nor does QVS feature in Lord Cullen’s Report.  Why?

Hamilton’s activities at other schools were examined and cross-examined and featured in detail in Lord Cullen’s Report.

[2] The second allegation that numerous complaints of bullying and abuse were made to 76 parents, the MOD, the Education Institute of Scotland, the Queen, the police, a MP, and finally to the European Parliament, is evident from the documentation of the ex-housemaster.  Also evident from the documentation is that the police smashed the door of his flat down with a sledgehammer.  At this time they removed all of his complaint files relating to the abuse and only returned some of them.  Neither the police nor the MOD investigated the specific allegations made by the ex-housemaster and this is confirmed in a letter from the Minister for Education.

[3] The third allegation that Her Majesty’s Commissioners were ignorant of, or in denial of, Hamilton’s role in QVS and the accusations of the ex-housemaster re bullying and abuse is evident from the correspondence I carried out with the Commissioners and others linked to the school.  To a man, the Commissioners who responded stated that they had no knowledge of Thomas Hamilton being a visitor to the school.  That three Secretaries of State for Scotland, the Lord Justice Clerk, rulers of the Queen's Navy, Army and Air Force were unaware of events that I was able to establish by simple research is unbelievable.  The proverbial dogs on the street knew that Hamilton was an influential visitor to the school but those charged with the legal responsibility for guardianship of the boarders at QVS to a man had no idea of this fact.  Why?

With regard to the allegations of abuse and bullying, again almost to a man, the Commissioners who responded to my questions were in ignorance of, or in denial of, these matters.  This is incredible as the complaints by the ex-housemaster were in the public domain—in Hansard, in complaints to them personally from the then housemaster, and in reports from the Educational Institute of Scotland.

Only one Commissioner refused to answer my written questions and one person named as a visitor to the QVS, George Robertson sent me a written refusal (on NATO headed paper).  I later learned that he enlisted the assistance of Central Scotland Police’s Chief Constable to investigate my motives and background.  I learned of this fact inadvertently when my solicitor sought to obtain the letters from Robertson to the police and the results of the police investigation.  My lawyer's requests to Central Scotland Police and NATO for the release of information concerning me have met with refusals.LINK

[4] The fourth allegation, that Freemasonry was the factor that allowed all sorts of illegal actions to take place without consequence, cannot be proved, but it cannot be ruled out.  It should be remembered that these allegations were first made in the period 1989-1992 (4-7 years before the Dunblane massacre), when the then housemaster was convinced that Freemasonry was hindering the investigation into, and punishment for, physical and sexual abuse at a school in Dunblane.

I was convinced that the ex-housemaster at QVS was telling the truth in his allegations and most of what he was stating was verifiable by simple research.  Given that the Central Scotland Police were complicit in the forced entry into the ex-housemaster's flat, confiscation and refusal to return complaint documents I thought it inappropriate to make a complaint to that police force.

I decided instead to make a complaint to the Lord Justice Clerk, Lord Gill who is ex-officio a Commissioner of the QVS.LINK  I had hoped that Lord Gill would have been able to instigate an independent or judicial inquiry.  Lord Gill accepted my detailed complaint in the form of a C.D.,LINK but after studying it for some time advised me that he thought the appropriate course of action would be to have Her Majesty’s Commissioners to QVS look into my complaint!

I rejected Lord Gill’s offer to have those who were the subject of a complaint pass judgement on themselves, and decided to petition the Solicitor General (Scotland).

Given the gravity of the complaint I directed a letter and C.D. of complaint personally to the Solicitor General, but responses to me were made by members of her staff in terms that I should make my complaint to Central Scotland Police.LINK

I eventually resorted to hiring Messengers-At-Arms to serve on the Solicitor General the complaint C.D. and a letter explaining why it was inappropriate for Central Scotland Police to deal with this matter.  A member of the Solicitor General’s staff responded in terms that I should make complaint to Central Scotland Police.

With all avenues of complaint exhausted I reluctantly handed in my complaint to Central Scotland Police’s Family Unit at Bannockburn on 30th April 2004.  No members of the family unit were present when I visited Bannockburn police station so I left two C.Ds. and one hard-bound copy of the complaint with the desk officer.

A month elapsed with neither acknowledgment, nor response to my complaint from the police so I enlisted my MSP to press them for a response.  In due course I was advised by Central Scotland Police in writing that they would investigate the allegations of abuse and bullying at Queen Victoria School, if and when they had the chance.

In the summer of 2004, I was advised by the ex-housemaster that he had received a phone call from an officer with Strathclyde Police who said that he would be visiting him to interview him with a view to taking a statement.  At the time of writing there has been no interview.  Why?

Copies of all documents concerning the above can be provided by contacting me at the following addresses:

Postal: Tom Minogue, 94 Victoria Terrace, Dunfermline, Fife, KY12 0LU.

E-mail: tomminogue@btinternet.com

Telephone: 01383 729869

Copyright © 2016 William Burns. All rights reserved.
Neglect

DUNBLANE PUBLIC INQUIRY

Dunblane Public Inquiry
Dunblane Massacre
Read the full list in the Dunblane Whitewash catalogue. LINK
Dunblane Angels
St Blane's Church Dunblane
The stained glass window in St Blane's Church, Dunblane, which commemorates the victims of the 1996 massacre.
List of the victims of the Dunblane massacre
Victoria Clydesdale
Mhairi MacBeath
Charlotte Dunn
Melissa Currie
Emma Crozier
Kevin Hassell
Ross Irvine
David Kerr
Gwen Hodson/Mayor - schoolteacher
John Petrie
Hanna Scott
Joanna Ross
Sophie North
Emily Morton
Maegan Turner
Brett McKinnon
Abigail McLennan
We know who killed the above victims, but, although we may not care, we do not know for sure who killed Thomas Hamilton, and why that person was carrying a revolver at the time!
Why did Lord Cullen try to bury William Burns' letters to him for 100 years? LINK