Falconsmere
by
Pink Panther
Postscript
Edward
`Ted' Price retired in 1981. Some twenty years later, following a police
investigation, he was arrested and charged with a number of
serious offences. His accusers included boys like Simon Rowe and Christopher
Bennett, whom he remembered clearly, along with several others that he could
not remember at all.
With
his eyesight failing and his quality of life already deteriorating, Mr Price had
no wish to face his day in court. Accordingly, he travelled to Beachy Head, one
of the highest points on England's south coast. The following day, his
shattered body was found on the beach some 500 feet below.
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Following
a highly successful career during which he was praised by both parents and
fellow professionals, Marcus Johnstone eventually retired in 1993. Rumours
about his conduct while working at Falconsmere only
began to surface around ten years later. Following another police
investigation, he too was arrested and charged.
On
reviewing the evidence, Marcus was not surprised to see James Ashcombe among
his list of accusers. He'd realised at the time that
he'd pushed things too far and that his error of judgement could well come back
to bite him. Ashley and Tristan Clarke were there too. That was no surprise
either, as during Ashcombe's final year at Falconsmere,
Tristan had been his younger friend.
However,
he was disappointed to find Matthew Wainwright was also on the list. Reading
Matthew's statement, he was horrified to learn of the mental torment that the
boy had endured after leaving Falconsmere. He had
never intended that to happen. He had not even been aware that it could.
His
only consolation was that neither Peter Fox nor Danny Fisher – both very
successful, openly gay, and living with their respective partners – had joined
in the accusations.
For
technical reasons, the matter did not come to court for more than ten years.
When it did, following a change in the law (which allowed the account of one
witness to be accepted as corroboration of a similar account given by a second
witness alleging a separate offence*) on the advice of his solicitor, Marcus
pleaded guilty to all charges.
When
he was sentenced, his defence barrister argued that he had never intended to
hurt anyone, and as he was now in his eighties and quite infirm, a community
sentence would be sufficient.
The
judge disagreed, ruling that Mr Johnstone's breach of trust had been so
egregious that a custodial sentence was his only option. Giving him the usual
credit for pleading guilty, he sentenced Marcus to six years imprisonment.
*This
is known as `corroboration by volume'.