School 'sorry' over sexual abuse

Cabin Hill is the prep school for Campbell College

An east Belfast preparatory school has formally apologised for the way it reacted to cases of sexual abuse at its boarding school.

A number of pupils at Cabin Hill preparatory school were abused by an older boy in 1992 and 1993. One family has received £500,000 in compensation.

A formal inquiry into the events was highly critical of the school.

The board of governors said it "deeply regretted" that any boarder was abused and apologised to them.

It also apologised to their families for the suffering caused by the allegations.

In a letter, the board of Cabin Hill and its sister school, Campbell College, said they were complying with the inquiry recommendations.

'Matters closed'

These included acknowledging that the action of the school in the early 1990s fell short of good practice; that child protection measures were not in place and that its reaction in 1999, to parents of abused boys, was "lacking in openness and sensitivity".

The father of one of the abused boys said that the letter "totally acknowledges" all the recommendations of the official inquiry and accepted the findings of the inquiry report.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous to protect his son, said the school had also written to him personally.

"It now closes all matters outstanding between my family and the college and hopefully will allow us both to draw a line under this sorry matter," he said.

"The victims should always be remembered because, without their courage in coming forward and getting at the truth, we would never have known what happened. I didn't think the day would come but I'm glad it has."

The fee-paying preparatory school on the Newtownards Road in east Belfast closed its boarding department in October 2004.