Victims of ex-Swindon headteacher's sexual abuse speak out in court

Creighton Muirhead, head of Ruskin Junior School for 13 years in the 1990s and 2000s, sexually abused a total of 19 pupils during his education career.

He was jailed for 11 years at Guildford Crown Court on Wednesday (March 23).

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It was heard how Muirhead, who started his abuse at The Weald school near Dorking, Surrey, would call female pupils to his desk for their books to be marked, only to put his hand up their skirts. He would run his hand from their knee area to their buttocks, prosecutor Caroline Carberry QC said.

Creighton Muirhead. Photo: Surrey Police.

Other instances included watching pupils in the shower, forcing them to walk across the changing rooms wet and naked, and on one occasion he sexually assaulted a pupil after picking her up.

During the hour-long hearing, powerful impact statements from a number of the now 67-year-old’s victims were read to the court.

They included one from Ruskin School, who had initially reported the abuse to Wiltshire Police, only for no action to be taken.

“Your formative years are a time you should be free, safe and looked after,” she said in a statement read to the court by Ms Carberry. “Your teachers should be your guidance and your example in life.

“At the Ruskin I often found myself on high-alert.”

Speaking of the report to the police, she said: “There was a feeling of being let down, but also the fear of repercussions after that initial report.”

She described how after she left the school, she would still walk quickly with her head down when passing it, for fear of Muirhead seeing her out of the window.

Ruskin Junior School. Photo: Google Maps.

“I always felt immense guilt and wondered what happened, and how he conducted himself after he was given the opportunity to ruin the lives of so many,” she said.

“I don’t expect Mr Muirhead to feel remorse, a man pathetic and low enough to have to exercise his power against helpless children is not a man at all.”

Another said that the abuse “cast a very long shadow” over her life.

“The fact he done this to her completely humiliated and confused her,” Ms Carberry summarised. “She felt she wouldn’t be believed because he assaulted her in such a public way.

“She described that she went from being a bright and upbeat child to someone who got very depressed and was often suicidal in her teens.”

One woman said from the witness box: “How do you briefly summarise the effects child abuse has had on your life.

“For me the trauma has impacted a great deal on my life. From the moment I received an unexpected phone call from the police four years ago, my life was consumed by painful memories.”

Another pupil “lived in constant fear and terror of ever seeing Mr Muirhead again”, Ms Carberry said.

Giving evidence during the trial “has left her physically poorly and was unable to leave the house or speak to anyone for over a week afterwards”.

“Whilst you and I know only too well that you are guilty, one day you might have the decency to admit it and show some remorse for your actions over all of these years,” she said in her statement.

Muirhead, of the Lechlade area of Gloucestershire, was convicted of 23 counts of indecent assault after a trial at Guildford Crown Court earlier this month. Of those, five counts relate to his time at the Ruskin school in Swindon.