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Spindrift<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nA retired teacher has been convicted of the historical abuse of 18 girls at a former residential school.<\/p>\n Patricia Robertson, 77, assaulted and humiliated youngsters during her time at Fornethy House in Angus. The charges spanned 15 years between 1969 and 1984.<\/p>\n Robertson denied the accusations during a trial at the High Court in Glasgow but was convicted of a total of 18 charges of cruel and unnatural treatment of the youngsters.<\/p>\n Sentence was deferred on the first offender until December. The judge, Lord Colbeck, granted her bail.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The court heard Robertson’s victims had been sent to the residential school for “short-term respite” from their homes.<\/p>\n The teacher force fed, assaulted and humiliated the girls.<\/p>\n One survivor told jurors: “I just wanted to curl up like a wee baby.<\/p>\n “I still do not understand how an adult could be like that.”<\/p>\n Robertson accepted that she used a “strong voice” when sometimes dealing with the girls, but insisted she was not violent and had not bullied them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Fornethy was run by two former local authorities, Glasgow Corporation and Strathclyde Regional Council. <\/p>\n It closed in 1993 and the building has been empty ever since.<\/p>\n It was said to offer “convalescent care” for girls aged between five and 12 for up to eight weeks at a time.<\/p>\n The trial heard testimony from a number of former residents about the regime there.<\/p>\n One of the victims recalled being force-fed semolina, which she had been struggling to swallow.<\/p>\n The witness said: “I remember Robertson was over at the other table and she came over to me shouting and bawling. She was saying: ‘You need to eat. It is good for you’.<\/p>\n “The next minute, I got my hair pulled back and the spoon was put down my throat. She just would not let go.”<\/p>\n The woman said she was then made to stand in a corner of the room facing away from others.<\/p>\n She remembers this sort of incident would “happen to everyone”.<\/p>\n The victim also said she was assaulted during a later stay at Fornethy while helping to scrub floors.<\/p>\n She was pulled back and forward “like a rag doll” before ending up on the floor on her knees.<\/p>\n The woman recalled: “I just wanted my mum.” She said she was beaten for “trying to do a good job”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Another survivor described the atmosphere at Fornethy as “scary, cold, unloved”.<\/p>\n She added: “You would be able to write letters (for family), but only what they dictated and you had to copy that.”<\/p>\n The woman said she was “scared” to report any incidents at the time.<\/p>\n Many other girls suffered similar ordeals.<\/p>\n Robertson targeted one youngster who was slapped, punched and had a blackboard duster hurled at her.<\/p>\n Another child was put over Robertson’s knee and slapped on her bare buttocks.<\/p>\n Robertson, now of Essex, gave evidence during the trial and denied all the claims.<\/p>\n A large group of women affected by the abuse at Fornethy were in court for the verdict. <\/p>\n There were shouts of “Yes” as the guilty verdicts were read out.<\/p>\n Robertson will be sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow in December.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Thompsons Solicitors, the law firm which represents 218 people who say they were affected by the events at Fornethy House, welcomed the news of Robertson’s conviction.<\/p>\n Partner Laura Connor said it was a “watershed moment” for their clients.<\/p>\n “We have heard them in court and also heard of the positive impact their testimony had on other survivors,” she said. <\/p>\n “Today’s conviction is a crucial milestone in a long fight for truth and accountability.<\/p>\n “Our clients have spoken of their happiness and relief at finally being heard, and believed.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nShaken ‘like a rag doll’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Historic Environment Scotland<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nConviction a ‘watershed moment’<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n