Man Reveals Abuse He Suffered at Hands of Former Teacher and Church Deacon
By Claire Carter
The son of former Manchester United player Willie Morgan has revealed the sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of a church deacon and former teacher. Alan Morris, 64, has been jailed for nine years following a 17 year campaign of abuse against young boys at St Ambrose College in Altrincham, an all-boys grammar school. Scott Morgan, now 43, has revealed the abuse he suffered at the hands of Morris started from when he was 11 and lasted for the next five years. Since Morris’ conviction it has emerged two more teachers at the grammar school would have faced similar charges if they were still alive. Mr Morgan, who has waived his right to anonymity, explained how the punishment was at first physical but then turned sexual, with him forced to bend over a stool Morris with hit his naked bottom with a variety of weapons – including one he had made out of a table tennis bat. Mr Morgan said: "I was really quiet at school. That's why he picked on me. I just put up and shut up. It's not the sort of thing you made a big deal of in those days. He had his favourites, those he liked to punish. You just knew when it was your turn. It was horrible. You just knew it was coming. You just shut your eyes and waited for it. "Often he didn't have to say anything. The more he hit you the more risque he got. It started off as just normal punishment which people nowadays would say was wrong because of the sheer brute force he used.” The businessman explained that the abuse got worse when he reached 13 and Morris told him to pull his trousers down after again telling him to go into his office. He added: “Sometimes it would be one or two pupils and other times there would be nine or ten. That's how he spent his lunch-times and always in his little room. "Before he hit you with the cane he would start poking you with it. Mr Morgan complained to the headmaster about the severity of punishments at the school and said Morris “ruled by fear.” He also revealed the other punishments dished out at the school – with entire classes lined up to have their backsides hit with cricket bats and one boy having his teeth knocked out after his face was smashed into a desk as punishment. He claimed there was the sense that teachers could do what they wanted because the school was a grammar school. Mr Morgan, who never told his mother about the abuse and only recently told his footballer father, claims he tried to commit suicide at 19 and he feels sorry for the pupils that came after him and were subjected to the abuse by Morris. He added: “He took pleasure from doing it and the thing that really sickens me is that he was allowed to leave the school in the full knowledge of what he had been doing and then join the church where he would be responsible for more children. That really beggars belief.” Morris, 64, of Hale, was found guilty of spanking pupils for his own sexual gratification between the 1970s and 1990s. The charges relate to the abuse of 10 boys at the school. He was convicted earlier this summer of 19 offences of indecent assault and inciting a child to perform an act of gross indecency. At a second trial this month he was cleared of similar alleged historic offences at St Ambrose relating to two boys, while the jury could not reach verdicts on eight others. At his trial, the jury heard Morris joined the school as a chemistry teacher in 1972, using his position of power to prey on vulnerable pupils. Pupils would be taken into a small room in his chemistry lab and while being beaten were often also indecently assaulted. They were also made to beat each other. Manchester Crown Court heard he also abused some pupils at his home under the guise of offering them private tuition if they were struggling. Morris carved out a role for himself as ‘chief policeman’ of the school, and other teachers would send pupils to him to be punished. Morris went on to become a Deacon at the Church of the Holy Angels in Hale Barns and continued to teach at St Ambrose until November 1995. Even after his retirement, he continued as a Deacon, conducting baptisms, funerals and weddings. When Morris was arrested pornographic films featuring spanking and teacher and pupil scenarios were found. Following publicity of his case other former pupils contacted police to report incidents of sexual abuse and assault. Detectives established that four former pupils were sexually assaulted by one former teacher and 10 by a different teacher. Police said both teachers were dead and had they not been, would likely have been charged with serious sexual offences. It emerged in court that Morris was first arrested by Greater Manchester Police in 2001 when one of his victims first made a historic allegation against him. But Morris told police he was homosexual but was only attracted to older men and could not pursue them in any event because of his vow of celibacy. He was released without charge Detective Chief Inspector Chris Bridge, said: "A self-proclaimed 'chief policeman', I have no doubt that he revelled in his fearsome reputation, taking it upon himself to seek out and punish pupils, using corporal punishment to cloak his real motive for chastising young boys: sexual gratification. "His campaign of abuse lasted the best part of 20 years and has had a deep and lasting impact on his victims. "
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.