ST HELIER BOYS / D'HAUTREE SCHOOL
MUSIC TEACHER CHRIS BACON - GUILTY OF SEXUALLY ASSAULTING PUPILS
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D'HAUTREE SCHOOL |
Where to start about this school and the music teacher Chris Bacon. Previously to Starting at D'Hautree in 1980 I had been at St Saviours primary school. I loved it. The teachers were great - I had no complaints. Then it was time for senior school. I was going to D'Hautree - the secondary school that was situated half way up St Saviours Hill. It had previously been called St Helier Boys School. We were to be the last all boys year. It was like walking into the Bronx.
Then there was CYRIL.
Cyril was a Holly bush. You would never ever walk along the path from the bike sheds to the music block during break time or lunch break in case you were told that you were going to meet Cyril. To be thrown into Cryil is one thing but to clear Cyril meant you would be landing on St Saviours Hill and taking your chances with the oncoming traffic… Thank god I never met Cyril.
If all that wasn't bad enough my 1st year form teacher scared the living daylights out of me. Mr P.H.Meyrick. I would liken him to Quinton Crisp. Very Camp and very brutal. You sat in his form class - you looked forward and you didn't mutter a word unless required to do so. Those who did or those who were stupid enough to mock him were met with the immortal phrase of "Don't you snigger at me boy" Those are the words you would here before his ringed fingers would snap across your skull like a cobra strike from behind..
The two things I loved most at D'Hautree was music and sport.
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THE MUSIC BLOCK |
I loved the Guitar and wanted to learn to play the Guitar. I Loved music lessons for this reason. A lot of mates just used it as an hour of free time but I loved it. My friends in the year above, who I knew from living in St Martin, warned me about Chris Bacon. All the jokes about not bending over for him, he will bum you etc etc. Everyone knew. I can't remember how long into starting D'Hautree but I knew his reputation. Just like I knew not to walk past Cyril and not to piss in the middle urinal or use anything in the middle as this would result you being called a derogatory Jersey name. You just knew that Chris Bacon was a bit off the garden path. That's what it was back then. If we all knew then the teachers must have known. There were boys who would hang around him down at the music block for whatever reason.
When news broke of Chris Bacon being convicted in the Royal Court for messing with former pupils it reminded me of the time he pulled me out of class for no apparent reason. Sorda come with me is all that I heard. Up I get and follow him to the room where all the trumpets and guitars were hanging up. I believe this might have been the sound proof room. In I go thinking what the hell is this all about when Bacon Say's bend over you have been a naughty boy. "Not a chance said I. I have heard all about you." From out of nowhere he had a shoe in his had and hit me once or twice across the small of my back and told me to get out. Didn't think twice about it as I walked out but now know he was getting off on it. What a bloody school. What a bloody sicko.
In part 2 I will be looking at how Chris Bacon was let off in 1985
I have mixed feelings about D'hautree. Loved some of it hated most of it. Liked some of the teachers disliked others. There were some real characters in my year. All no doubt with a story to tell.
But how Bacon was allowed to get away with it for so long should leave some teachers having a good hard look at themselves.
Rico Sorda
33 comments:
Your bottom is safe now, be grateful.
I had no idea what this perv had done to you and well done for speaking out.
If you ever need a shoulder, don't hold back from contacting either myself or Mick.
Might chuckle but we do understand.
Every teacher knew what Bacon was up to at that school but said and did nothing they willingly allowed a pedophile to destroy lives and they should hang their heads in shame. William Bailhache got Bacon off at a parish hall with a centeniers caution and he should hang his head in shame also.
In the 1980s, there were virtually no safeguarding practices. Those came in the 1990s, where there would be a designated safeguarding person, suitably trained (see The Sharp report for historical details). Every member of staff was not required to receive training until later.
A lot of things that we would now find appalling were taken as an acceptable part of the culture of society. The Saville case revealed not just sexual abuse, but also casual groping of women was commonplace in TV. One of the past Chief Librarians (when it was in the Old Library) in Jersey was known to have "wandering hands".
In schools, physical punishment - the cane - was accepted practice. It was also not uncommon for teachers to use physicality - I had my ears boxed with a ruler held by a geography teacher for daydreaming in class. I remember one teacher (admittedly a French teacher on an exchange system for a term) hurling a blackboard duster at members of the class.
Racial abuse was also commonplace and there was a lot of quite blatant antisemitism in comments and jokes about Jewish boys at school. The masters never cracked down on that but must have been aware of it. But as the Black and White Minstrel Show was on TV, it is probably not surprising that no one did.
One of the oddities of culture was that there was a confusion between pedophiles and homosexuals. A teacher who was gay would be put in the same box by boys as one who you knew to avoid in the changing rooms.
Of course some practices almost lent themselves to pedophile teachers - communal showers where the teacher would keep an eye, for instance!
Good blog Rico. All us former pupils have a story about that school.
Hi Tony.
Agree with most of your comment.
Thanks for posting.
Good for you for showing solidarity with abuse victims.
Only hope you can put your unpleasant experiences with this wicked man to rest.
Goodyear was an absolute nutter - i mean a proper fu**in nut !
The parish hall enquiries have got a lot to answer for. How many pedophiles have been kept off the sex register and escaped prosecution because of them?
There is more to this as will be explained on my next posting.
St Helier Boys School was a dumping ground for odd ball and useless Teachers. Known fact!
WTF????????? William Bailhache got Bacon off at a Parish Hall Enquiry?????????? Is that true?
The entire school was run by nut cases and god bothering lunatics. You can be sure that Bacon wasn't the only pedo teacher either. Who was the religious nut who taught RE and used to clonk people over the head with a bible?
To Quote a Comment Mr P.H.Meyrick. I would liken him to Quinton Crisp. Very Camp and very brutal. Yes he was he used to touch me up the Dirty animal, I was also being abused at the time by my Fathers m8 and by other predators at the school I have no idea how I have kept it all together!
Hi Rico
Not sure if your aware, old man Ozouf was connetable at St Saviours about this time I think.
Bacon was heavily involved in various Masonic lodges on the island. He was kicked out when he was sacked from D'hautree. But his filthy behaviour should have been dealt with properly back then & not covered up by his ex-brotherhood friends!
Most of the teachers at St Helier boys school were nothing less than thugs who thought it was normal to cane and thump youngsters as they felt like it one particular so-called teacher you mentioned Goodyear I will not use his title as I found this particular arsehole to be a complete bully. He punched me hard in the chest because I forgot to call him sir, I would like to see him try it now, prick!!! Hope he feels good about his bully boy power trip.
What a pitiful pathetic post.
Everybody knew you were a victim of abuse but ffs get some dignity man.
Good year violent bully .
Lund had a vicious sadistic streak .
Bummer bacon sick bastard .
Most of the other teachers were ok but some were in my opinion very biased and had favorites .
If I saw Goodyear or Lund I would cross the road for fear of my own anger I hope they both suffer in old age ....bacon will get his karma at la moye ....and it won't be just picking up the soap in the shower style.....these inhuman bastard's are the cause of many knighmares and psychological and psychiatric problems .thank God for people like you riCo .... I was abused at home at dhautree and in children's homes I hope they all get karma of epic proportions .........bastards
Rico.
Ian Gorst's Guide to the GALAXY.
Sounds like you had a lucky escape Rico
Chris Bacon probably backed off because you made it fairly clear that you would fight back and tell (telling being the only real way of fighting back)
Bacon probably moved on to more vulnerable & less street wise targets where he judged the risks were lower. Of course speaking out is a major deterrent but to be really effective and to protect other children action MUST actually be taken, rather than bullying the child into silence which happened at Victoria College
It is of more relevance to the Victoria College abuse but the BAFTA award winning documentary film "Chosen" is a must watch:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoOzqebOU1k
These three boys (now men) talk about how they were groomed but had to wait until their parents were dead before they felt able to speak out and have their abuser prosecuted
They then set up the pressure group Mandate Now:
http://mandatenow.org.uk/why-we-exist/
Mandatory reporting is the single thing which will do most to prevent other children being abused year after year.
Will the CoI demand this?
I watched this documentary when it first was aired
The guy's that appear in this jumped through whoops to get this broadcasted
Such respect for them
Abuse happens in every echalan of society we just need to open our eyes and our hearts.
I watched this documentary when it first was aired
The guy's that appear in this jumped through whoops to get this broadcasted
Such respect for them
Abuse happens in every echalan of society we just need to open our eyes and our hearts.
There's loads to this, talking to someone last week and he was saying he knows 9 boys that were abused by Bacon including him. He told the secretary at the Hall of the house that he'd been improper with him and she just told him to go away and stop making up stories!
One story I would like looking into is about a lad in my year Philip W. He took his own life for some reason and recently heard it may have something to do with Bacon? He was a bright kid, wouldn't hurt a fly.
I went to St Helier Boys also but pre- dated Bacon and Rico being older. To be fair not all teachers were bad. We had one teacher who gave out books with a short essay followed by ten questions about details in the essay which we had read and then give a written answer, while he spent the whole " lesson " ? reading the JEP. It was always the same.
Mr Clark the head was a decent caring man and a certain teacher Mr Horsefall was a great teacher and mentor who revived my confidence in people. Another good English teacher who's class I worked down to, being in the " D " English stream, took time to ask why my English was so appalling when he new I could do so much better. If I did the work he would support and guide me he advised, which he did and my English literature and spelling improved dramatically thanks to his teaching and caring.
Bacon was not a music teacher at the school when I attended we had a German older lady he probably took over from her.
St Helier was a hard school, but this was due partly as Rico says to some poor below basic standard teachers but let us not forget the feral kids ( forming gangs ) from poor and abusive homes who's parents had issues, and took little interest in their kids and should never have had them.
I also got bullied, the teacher mentioned above Mr Horsefall witnessed this and told me to hit back harder, even if I stood no chance of winning, so the bully will find an easier target. This was reality. Any teacher who gave that advice today would probably be sacked for enticing violence, so the bullying goes on.
The school, bearing in mind many of the troubled kids that attended, could have been a great school but that would depend on all teachers ( like today ) being of a high professional standard, and leaders, which they were not and even today not all teachers are good teachers.
Teachers should be accountable and tested today, as in most other jobs based basically on results. I spoke with a friend who has just retired as a headmaster ( no permission to use his name so I won't ) he says the biggest problem that exists in schools is getting rid of poor and disinterested teachers.
On reflection, St Helier Boys, was what it was, as Tony above writes, standards were different high in those days, but there were good teachers. Class sizes were also larger then. It would be an interesting exercise to see then and now how exam results read. Are they that much better today ?
"What a pitiful pathetic post.
Everybody knew you were a victim of abuse but ffs get some dignity man."
I know you don't care for obscenities on you blog - but I hope you will indulge me in telling the pathetic c**t and psychopath author of that comment to fuck off.
I could spend time writing some articulate, erudite, wordy critique of the comment - I could deconstruct the obvious intellectual and ethical bankruptcy of the author - I could point out the questionable assumptions made - and explain the intrinsic endorsement of child-rape by that author, embodied in the comment.
But - a piece of shit - is a piece of shit.
And not worth the time of any decent and thinking person.
Excellent post, Rico - and long may you continue to succeed where Jersey's heritage media fails.
Stuart Syvret.
Stuart if you felt so strongly about this subject you would have been the first to give evidence.
@2:39pm I'm sure if the CoI had shown any sign of being fit for purpose, then Ex Health Minister Syvret would have been the first to give evidence.
http://voiceforchildren.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/jersey-child-abuse-committee-of-inquiry.html
"Jersey Child Abuse Committee of Inquiry A Fake, Partial, Incompetent?"
To Stuart Syvret,
Everybody knew you were a victim of abuse but ffs get some dignity man."
What are the hell are you talking about, idiot ?
Not all women drivers are bad drivers,
Not all teachers are peado's
There are a few good politicians in the States of Jersey.
Maybe you had a hard time at St Helier Boys Stuart, certainly others did. I also got bullied, no doubt kids were abused ( by the Bacon music teacher which is a fact ) but after my time.
I did not get sexually abused, maybe like Rico, I was the wrong character, maybe not pliable certainly strong minded, but my life there was as written as in the post above. A hard school with some dreadful but also some good teachers that helped me. In case you are thinking, I am not gay nor ever have been. Not every thing or everyone in life is bad Stuart, please don't tar everyone with the same brush, you are supposed to be smarter than that ?
@10:54pm
I think perhaps you mis-read Stuart's post.
You might note from the " " [quote marks] that Stuart was quoting those unpleasant and ignorant words from the trollish comment way back in the thread March 17, 2017 at 4:50 AM
[Stella o'clock]
The paedo sympathiser was rightly given a hard time in payment for it's attempted victim blaming.
It was only a matter of time before Jersey became the subject of international scholarly study into political, moral and legal corruption:
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mesjCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT333&lpg=PT333&dq=stuart+syvret&source=bl&ots=5ZMtJq-JVp&sig=E9yNbhlTxn7f7rTMK6z-_VLkjgI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjN24fU1vLSAhUpJcAKHchXBsI4HhDoAQhAMAY#v=onepage&q=stuart%20syvret&f=false
With thanks to "Gladiator":
http://planetjersey.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=212.msg61320#msg61320
Published British book scrutinised The Jersey Child Abuse inquiry by practising Australian barristers, researchers and Senior lecturers of Socio-legal studies and in the faculty of law at the University of Sydney.
Secrecy, Law and Society – 2 June 2015
edited by Greg Martin, Rebecca Scott Bray, Miiko Kumar
Secret isle? Making Sense of the Jersey child abuse scandal. (pp 251 – 272 )
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mesjCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT333&lpg=PT333&dq=stuart+syvret&source=bl&ots=5ZMtJq-JVp&sig=E9yNbhlTxn7f7rTMK6z-_VLkjgI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjN24fU1vLSAhUpJcAKHchXBsI4HhDoAQhAMAY#v=onepage&q=stuart%20syvret&f=false
This book chapter [14] about Jersey’s secrecy culture is not light reading for the judiciary, civil servants, politicians , the news media, the finance centre and church leaders of Jersey but supports the information published by the blogs of Rico Sorda, Voiceforchildren, Stuart Syvret, Leah Mcgrath Goodman.
Ex Senator Stuart Syvret’s role as a whistleblower and victim of Jersey’s unusual data protection law interpretation, Mr Power’s suspension, the Jersey States Members voting to keep the tape secret regarding the debate about Mr Power’s suspension, the conflicted roles of the Bailhache brothers, Victoria College abuse, Jimmy Savile at Haut de la Garenne, the Jersey’s Nazi past and link to London city are just a few of the interesting issues the authors have researched and put into context. They have not shied away to link Jersey’s “secrecy culture”to other international institutional child sexual abuse scandals and writing about corruption and cover-ups. They even quote the Dean of Jersey, Very Rev Robert Key who warned of “ over-inquisitiveness, false sensationalism and prurient curiosity” in his prayer.
One of their conclusions was the need of the news media to play the critical public interest role in scrutinising the police and political authority which the State’s media has clearly failed to be.
In my humble opinion this book of law professionals underlies that there is substance to the concern of a white wash of the Jersey Child Abuse inquiry.
REVIEW OF THIS BOOK:
"Lawyers, scholars and most certainly journalists and feature writers doing research in any of these areas will find this book, with its extensive and meticulous footnoting, a treasure trove of references to follow up as interesting and authoritative avenues for further enquiry. What is especially refreshing about the book is its plain-speaking and quite often hard-hitting approach to the various aspects of this topic about which the individual contributors have strong views. As a contribution to the ongoing debate on the often insoluble problems inherent in issues of secrecy, security, free speech and the law, this book with its diversity of opinion is first class." - Phillip Taylor MBE, Richmond Green Chambers
Extraordinary YouTube documentary with verifiable sources listed showing that international sex trafficking rings are controlled by the elite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1GQehNcZZw
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