BBC presenter Nicky Campbell confident paedophile former Edinburgh teacher will be brought to justice

Presenter believes testaments from survivors from schools in South Africa could “change everything”

Edinburgh-born presenter Nicky Campbell is hopeful a former Edinburgh teacher who he saw molesting a classmate in the 1970s will soon be brought to justice.

The teacher, referred to as Edgar in an order made at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, is facing abuse allegations in South Africa, has previously admitted to abusing boys at schools in Edinburgh during the 60s and 70s.

The 82-year-old, who has admitted fondling pupils at Fettes College and Edinburgh Academy, where Campbell witnessed some of the abuse in the 1970s, is fighting moves to be extradited to Britain.

Nicky Campbell believes a former Edinburgh teacher who he saw molesting a classmate will soon be brought to justice.

Now, after a documentary on Edgar was screened in South Africa, where he now lives in a retirement complex, a man has come forward to claim he was abused by him at a school in Cape Town in the 1980s.

Campbell, who has been campaiging to have Edgar extradited to the UK, believes testaments from survivors from schools in South Africa could “change everything”.

The BBC 5 Live presenter added: “It’s a real breakthrough. The Scottish and South African legal authorities have made procedural errors but there’s now a very good chance Edgar will be prosecuted in South Africa.”

In Dark Corners is on Radio 4, 8pm tonight (January 9), journalist Alex Renton speaks to a man – given the pseudonym Steven – who claims to have been molested by Edgar several times in just under a year.

Steven claimed: “He was a senior teacher, in his 50s. I was a 12, 13-year-old boy. All I could say was, ‘yes sir, no sir’.

“His favourite one was being untidy. If your shirt wasn’t tucked in, that was part of his modus operandi to have physical contact with you. That would progress to grabbing me. He would push himself up against me.”

Steven also claims he witnessed Edgar molesting other pupils at the school.

The Cape Town school has written to former pupils urging them to come forward.

Campbell, who has spoken in the past of the abuse he saw at Edinburgh Academy, said: “I’ve listened to the whole unedited interview with tears in my eyes. It is incredibly powerful. You hear the shame. It is incredible that he has come forward.”

Campbell was 10 years old when he says he saw Edgar molesting a classmate.

The 62-yer-old said witnessing incidents of both sexual and physical abuse at the Edinburgh Academy had had a “profound effect on my life”.

In a statement, Edinburgh Academy said it “deeply regrets” the alleged incidents and “wholeheartedly” apologised to those involved.

“We have worked closely with the relevant authorities including Police Scotland with their inquiries and would like to provide reassurance that things have dramatically changed since the 1970s,” the statement read.

“The Academy has robust measures in place to safeguard children at the school with child protection training now core to the ethos of the Academy.”

Edgar’s extradition hearing is set for March 17, and Campbell added: “We are never going to give up until he is brought to justice.”

In Dark Corners is on Radio 4, 8pm tonight, and on BBC Sounds.