Human rights lawyer, 34, wins substantial payout from £35,000-a-year private school that did not protect her from mother’s partner who raped her when she was 13
- Kim Fawcett was raped and made pregnant at 14 by her mother’s boyfriend
- Robert Stuart McClelland was jailed in 2004 but only served two years
- Miss Fawcett argued if staff at her school at the time had fulfilled their safeguarding responsibilities, she could have been spared months of abuse
- She was given a payout by her former school Ellesmere College in Shropshire
A human rights lawyer who was groomed, raped and made pregnant at 14 by her mother’s boyfriend has received a payout by her former school after claiming staff failed to protect her.
Kim Fawcett, 34, said Ellesmere College, in Shropshire, ‘failed to keep her safe’ despite her friends and one of their mothers informing the school of sexual text messages from her abuser, Robert Stuart McClelland.
Waiving her anonymity to speak to MailOnline in August 2017, she revealed that her mother met McClelland on an internet dating website after her relationship with her father broke down and they divorced.
McClelland, a truck driver, was convicted of indecent assault and sexual intercourse with a girl under 16 at Chester Crown Court. He was charged in 2003, sent to prison for six years in 2004 and placed on the sex offenders register – but only served two years of his sentence.
The BBC has now revealed that Miss Fawcett was paid a substantial undisclosed sum by her former school to settle her case against them.
Her case against the college, which charges fees of up to £35,000 a year, surrounded the belief that if staff had fulfilled their safeguarding responsibilities, she could have been spared months of abuse.
Kim Fawcett, 34, said Ellesmere College, in Shropshire, ‘failed to keep her safe’ when she was a pupil there
Robert Stuart McClelland was sent to prison for six years in 2004 and placed on the sex offenders register – but only served two years of his sentence
More than a decade after her abuser was jailed, she contacted the school to see if more could have been done.
Miss Fawcett claims multiple members of staff knew about the allegations of abuse and says McClelland managed to drive onto school premises and raped her in his van.
School records allegedly proved at least one staff member was aware of lewd text messages McClelland had sent the teenager in 2002 – when she was 13 – but these were reportedly never shared with social services.
One handwritten note allegedly recorded that he had text her to say ‘your mom won’t be home tonight, we will be all alone’.
‘When you sit on my bed you don’t know how it makes me feel.’
Ah andwritten note allegedly recorded that he had text her to say ‘your mom won’t be home tonight, we will be all alone’
The school and its lawyers vigorously challenged her claims against them, insisting they had done nothing wrong and many of her claims were unsubstantiated, reports said.
Miss Fawcett claims comments from headmaster Brendan Wignall, who allegedly told her the college had nothing to apologise for, had prompted her to take action.
In letters seen by the BBC Mr Wignall told her ‘I do not believe the college would act differently if similar events were to happen today.’
Waiving her anonymity to speak to the broadcaster, she said: ‘I only ended up issuing [starting legal action] because I wanted them to take me seriously. I wanted them to listen.’
She said she wanted lessons to be learnt.
McClelland raped Miss Fawcett for the first time when she was 13.
Miss Fawcett has previously said he then scratched the date of the first rape on a bottle as a sick memento.
When she was 14, she discovered that she was pregnant and was told by McClelland to have an abortion.
A family friend encouraged Miss Fawcett to go to the police and McClelland was arrested.
Miss Fawcett suffered mental health problems in the years that followed.
After a counsellor she was seeing in her 20s asked her where the adults in her life had been at the time, she decided to contact the school to try and build an understanding of what had happened.
Insurers for Ellesmere College settled out of court and paid Miss Fawcett a sum without an admission of liability (stock image)
But it reportedly led to an almost three-year fight to try and get some answers.
She wrote to Ellesmere College between 2017 and 2018 but was often left waiting months for a response, according to reports.
Miss Fawcett eventually reached out to the Information Commissioner to get her records before starting legal proceedings.
The college’s lawyers reportedly said her allegations against the school were misplaced.
In 2020 insurers for Ellesmere College settled out of court and paid Miss Fawcett a sum without an admission of liability.
The college told the BBC it had ‘found no grounds to support the suggestion that the college could have done anything differently at the time’.
‘The college was desperately saddened to hear about the terrible abuse that Kim Fawcett had suffered, and carefully and thoroughly investigated her complaint as soon as it was received.’
MailOnline has contacted the school for comment.
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