FAA Scotland - Week one

Kerelaw School, Glasgow

An art teacher at a residential school run by Glasgow City Council relished the power he had over youngsters in his care, it was claimed in court today.

A 39-year-old witness told the High Court in Edinburgh he also believed Matt George knew how to hit people without leaving any marks.

The claims emerged as jurors continued hearing evidence in the trial of two men accused of abusing pupils at Kerelaw School, in Stevenston, Ayrshire, which housed troubled young people from serious offenders to those with family difficulties.

George, 56, and John Muldoon, 52, a manager of one of the school's residential units, face a catalogue of charges.

The indictments contained 85 charges in total, with both men facing allegations of indecent assault, assault and using lewd, indecent and libidinous practices on a number of boys and girls.

The charges, some of them joint, span a period of almost 30 years, with one dating back as far as October 1975. The alleged crimes are mainly said to have taken place at Kerelaw School.

George, from Largs in Ayrshire, and Muldoon, from Irvine in Ayrshire, deny all charges.

The witness, who cannot be named for legal reasons, began giving evidence yesterday, when he claimed he suffered regular beatings at the hands of George at the school towards the end of the 1970s.

Today, he was questioned by George's defence counsel Graham Robertson, who challenged the accuracy of those claims.

But the witness replied: "My opinion was that Matt George relished the power that he had over the children who were allegedly in his care."

Asked about his earlier claim that he had been hit by George, who used a slapping motion, the witness added: "I always believed that Matt George knew where to hit you without leaving a trace."

Asked whether George had simply been demonstrating martial arts manoeuvres, the witness told the jury of six men and nine women: "Firstly, I would see it as completely inappropriate behaviour and secondly it was sore - very sore as to the point as I described yesterday where some of the manoeuvres would actually cause someone to lose their senses."

The witness yesterday claimed George ridiculed him in front of other pupils on his first morning at the school by indicating a pair of black shorts he was wearing and saying words to the effect of: "What the f*** are those?"

Asked whether he had been mistaken in his recollection, he replied: "If you're attacked by a dog, you're absolutely certain you're attacked by a dog.

"I remember the moment when Matt George came into my life."

Mr Robertson asked the witness whether he had remembered telling social work staff a few years ago that he had been "kidnapped and brutalised by the state" in putting him into Kerelaw.

The witness replied: "It is possible that I would have said that because as an overall concept in my own mind numerous people, including Matt George himself, during my time at Kerelaw, said that I had been inappropriately placed."

The court previously heard that the Glasgow City Council-run school would house around 70 pupils at any one time, although it has now been partially closed down.

The trial before Lady Paton, which is expected to last eight weeks, continues.