Colin West, Headmaster of the Lower School. St. Aiden’s, Carlisle, was tried and retried in the early 1980’s on charges of indecently assaulting girl pupils.
The Crown alleged that Mr. West spanked girls, ages 11 to 14, on the bare buttocks with a shoe and then rubbed their buttocks with antiseptic cream. It had been alleged that most of the beatings had been inflicted in the girls’ homes which Mr. West visited with his “punishment kit” consisting of the shoe and a tube of antiseptic cream carried in a cardboard box. Mr. West denied the charges, stating that he spanked the girls with a training shoe on top of their nightwear and had not applied antiseptic cream.
The court heard that in March 1982, two girls were called to West’s office because they were not wearing full uniform. West told one to go back to class but detained the other. She told the court the following: