Two men guilty of abuse at school

Two men have been found guilty of physically and sexually abusing troubled children they were meant to be looking after.

Art teacher Matthew George, 56, and residential care worker John Muldoon, 53, worked at Kerelaw School, Ayrshire, where the offences took place.

The pair originally faced 85 charges dating back 30 years.

George was found guilty of 18 charges and Muldoon was found guilty of four. Sentence was deferred for reports.

Reading all the charges to jurors at the High Court in Edinburgh at the beginning of the trial took almost an hour.

A total of 21 men and 17 women were lined up to describe the abuse they claimed to have suffered, all of which was denied by George and Muldoon.

The trial heard how former pupils blamed George of Rosebank Gardens, Largs, and Muldoon of Adams Walk, Irvine, for problems which continued to dog them in later life.

The witnesses included one man who is now serving life for murder and others who are also in jail.

Another, who went on to acquire a criminal record for violence and firearms offences, claimed he had returned to the school near Stevenston with a gun intending to shoot George for what he had done.

The trial heard evidence of "rag-dolling" assaults on unruly pupils by pushing and shaking them and how martial arts enthusiast George liked to practice Kung Fu on them.

A forensic scientist told how she found the gym wall pock-marked with holes made by flying golf balls - backing up pupils' claims that they were taken there to be pelted with missiles as a punishment.

After nine weeks of evidence and speeches it took the nine women and six men almost five full days of discussion to reach their verdicts.

George was found guilty of hitting children, forcing them to perform sex acts and abusing them in other ways.

Muldoon was found guilty of indecency by going into girls' bedrooms or showers, lying on one youngster's bed and fondling her.

Lady Paton called for background reports and remanded both men in custody pending sentence.

George was suspended from Kerelaw School while Muldoon was fired in December 2004 for "gross misconduct."

Some of the Kerelaw pupils were sent to the school by courts or children's hearings because they committed serious offences, even murder. Others were there because of unruly behaviour or difficulties at home.

Glasgow Council ordered the school's closure after an investigation by the Care Commission and education inspectors almost two years ago.