Events in the life of Thomas Hamilton

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4.48   Following the problems which Thomas Hamilton had experienced with his summer camps he ran the series of what came to be known as residential sports training courses during the summer holidays at Dunblane High School. Central Regional Council considered that these courses represented an improvement as compared with his summer camps as they had better facilities and could be supervised. On the evening of 29 June P C Gunn came across three young boys walking down Old Doune Road, Dunblane dressed in their pyjamas. They told him that they had been at a boys' camp at Dunblane High School and that they were wanting to go home. They were home-sick and did not like the discipline which Thomas Hamilton was imposing on them. They did not complain of any violence or criminal behaviour. P C Gunn took them to the police office, but having heard the name of Thomas Hamilton he felt that it was best that he should not become personally involved. Contact was made with the parents who took the boys home.

4.49   On the following day Thomas Hamilton explained to police officers who visited the school that the boys slept in sleeping bags on the dining hall floor. After settling down for the night they were not allowed to go anywhere without his permission, except to the toilets. Three boys had gone there and had probably left the building by the fire exit. At that stage the police were satisfied by his explanation and no further action was taken.

4.50   On 2 July the police received a complaint from a parent about regimentation and lack of supervision. Arrangements were then made to take statements from the three boys. One of the parents expressed herself as concerned about the lack of supervision, the circumstances in which her son left the school and Thomas Hamilton's discouragement of any telephone contact with home and any parental access. A report was made to the Child Protection Unit, which contacted the corresponding unit in Fife from whence the boys had come. Copies were also sent to the Reporters to the Children's Panels for Central Region and Fife Region. The latter Reporter, Mr A Kelly, was concerned about the risk to which the three boys might have been exposed, the conditions at the school and the general lack of supervision. He communicated his concerns to Mr D Somerville, the Senior Assistant Director of Education of Fife Regional Council. In a memorandum to him he wrote: "I feel that the events of 29 June 1992 in Dunblane in a sense serve as a warning. If the kind of circumstances as described are allowed to continue without some kind of intervention, I consider that other children may be placed at risk. In like situations arising unchecked, I fear that a tragedy to a child or children is almost waiting to happen."

4.51   A copy of the police report was submitted to the Procurator Fiscal at Stirling, Mr Valentine, for information only. He was satisfied that it required no action to be taken and marked the copy "no pro: not a crime". There plainly was no evidence of any criminal act.

Lynburn Gymnastics Club/Dunfermline Boys Club

4.52   In the case of Fife Regional Council applications for lets at school premises required to be made to the area office of the Regional Council but might be referred to the headmaster for consideration. Thomas Hamilton obtained a let for the Lynburn Gymnastics Club at the Woodmill Centre in Dunfermline. The club included swimming under the supervision of qualified attendants employed by the Regional Council. At first Thomas Hamilton had an assistant, but when attendances started to diminish he could not afford to keep him on. Thereafter a number of parents assisted him but from about 1990 he was there on his own.

4.53   While the club was at the Woodmill Centre it was monitored by the full-time staff employed at the Centre who would watch activities once a fortnight for about ten minutes. The staff described activities as being "a gymnastics class from about 1945 or the 1950s". Mr G Baxter, the Head of the Woodmill Centre, said in evidence that: "It just wasn't the type of gymnastics they were being taught in the 1990s but there was nothing else wrong with it". The boys wore only gym shoes and shorts, but this was not considered to be unusual. Thomas Hamilton took photographs of the boys and some of these were passed to Mr Baxter for display in the Centre. They did not contain anything unusual.

4.54   A number of complaints came to the attention of Mr Baxter. A number of these related to camps run by Thomas Hamilton. In 1985 it was reported that he had left some boys unsupervised at night on an island in Loch Lomond while he stayed on a barge with other boys. They were left with a rowing boat and the youngest was hardly able to swim. They were given little to eat and were not able to wear warm clothing. One boy was assaulted by three others and Thomas Hamilton apparently watched without intervening. A further complaint was made in regard to a camp in 1990. This was that a boy had sustained a serious chest infection there. However, in this instance the parent did not pursue the complaint. In each instance the Regional Council considered withdrawing the lets, but took the view that they could not do so as nothing untoward was occurring in the Centre.

4.55   As regards the club there was a complaint in 1990, by which time it was referred to as the Dunfermline Boys Sports Club. The complaint was that a boy was excluded from the Club for being too big. Following correspondence Thomas Hamilton agreed not to prevent boys from joining on the basis of their build. As far as Mr Baxter was aware this was the only complaint received by Fife Region in regard to activities within the Woodmill Centre.

4.56   Following the memorandum from the Reporter to the Children's Panel to which I have referred in para 4.50, Mr Somerville prepared a detailed report considering the issues raised by the 1992 training course. His report incorporated the findings of Mr E Liddell, a PE Instructor, who had viewed a videotape of the gymnastics run by Thomas Hamilton. Mr Liddell's view was that the activities were inappropriate and in some cases dangerous. As a result of this report it was decided that the Regional Council would not provide further lets to Thomas Hamilton. The concern was that children might suffer harm through carelessness on his part. The Council were not aware of any rumours regarding possible abuse of boys. The lets were terminated as from 28 August 1992.

4.57   Thomas Hamilton complained about this to the Ombudsman, but on 7 September 1992 he declined to proceed with the complaint as the Regional Council had offered to meet Thomas Hamilton. However, Thomas Hamilton did not receive any further let from the Regional Council.

Further complaints about Thomas Hamilton during 1993 - 1995

4.58   In January 1993 a complaint was made to Central Regional Council that Thomas Hamilton was solely in charge of the club at Denny High School. This led to the Regional Council investigating his qualifications and methods and the bona fides of the Boys Sports Club Group Committee. In May and June 1993 the Family Unit (formerly the Child Protection Unit) received two further complaints about Thomas Hamilton's conduct at Denny High School and Dunblane High School. The complaints were that he had required boys to change into black swimming trunks and had photographed them. In one case the boy was photographed on his own in a locked gym. In the other the boy was photographed while carrying out exercises with another boy. Another complaint was made that a boy had attended at Stirling High School with a view to playing five-a-side football but instead had been required to change into ill-fitting trunks and perform gymnastic exercises. The nature of the exercises caused concern to the police. In each case an investigation was carried out by the Family Unit, but as the boys were then withdrawn from the clubs no further action was taken under the child protection procedures. However, the investigation was continued as a police matter and a report was submitted to the Procurator Fiscal on 9 June 1993 with a request for a warrant to search Thomas Hamilton's house for photographs, photographic equipment, documentation and other items which might be relevant to police enquiries. The police were concerned about Thomas Hamilton's access to boys, especially those who were vulnerable. They thought that photographs of them performing certain exercises were open to being interpreted as lewd. While Thomas Hamilton provided parents with photographs of their children fully clothed, he did not include photographs of them wearing only swimming trunks. The police also were concerned about Thomas Hamilton overworking the boys. DC (now DS) Gordon Taylor who brought the report to the Procurator Fiscal's office had the opportunity of discussing it with Mr W Gallagher. Mr Gallagher, having considered the information provided, reached the view that there was insufficient material to file the application. He was of the view that while the conduct was of concern it did not yet cross the border into criminality. However, he expressed the view that the police should continue their enquiries and report further to him if any more evidence came to light. In these circumstances he marked the report so as to indicate that the matter should be reviewed in three months' time. So far as he was concerned he was concentrating on whether some form of indecency was going on. None of the photographs appeared to be indecent. He advised the police that they need not report further instances of the same conduct unless there was a change in the character of the circumstances indicating criminality. In his evidence DS Taylor stated that he had suggested to Mr Gallagher that, while the children were not alarmed by Thomas Hamilton's conduct, the parents' alarm would possibly have amounted to a breach of the peace but that Mr Gallagher did not think that it did. In his evidence Mr Gallagher said that he would have been surprised if he had said that a breach of the peace could not be constituted where alarm had been caused to a third party. I accept that he would not have said that. On 10 September 1993 Mr Gallagher reviewed the papers adding to them a marking which indicated that no proceedings were to be taken. In the meantime no further information had come to light. It is likely that he would have been in contact with the police before making this decision. In her closing submissions Miss Dunlop argued that a case of breach of the peace could have been based on the parents' reactions to Thomas Hamilton's conduct. While I accept that a case of breach of the peace may arise where alarm is caused to a third party the question in each case, which is one of fact, is whether the action complained of was of such a nature to be likely to give rise to such reactions on the part of those witnessing it. This was a matter which was left to the discretion of the Procurator Fiscal to assess. It is in any event clear that in this case the concentration was upon whether there was evidence indicative of indecency.

4.59   In the meantime the Regional Council was investigating the activities of Thomas Hamilton. In February 1993 Mr Flett, Assistant Director of Administration and Legal Services, had obtained a report by Mrs T Chillas, Sports Development Officer, on three videotapes which had come into the hands of the Regional Council and showed boys club activities. In her report she criticised the gymnastic exercises and trampolining shown in the videotapes and made critical observations about the manner in which the club was conducted by Thomas Hamilton. That report was made available to DS Moffat who had been endeavouring to gather more information about his activities. His qualifications were checked and found to meet the requirements of the Regional Council. In June 1993 Mr Flett asked Thomas Hamilton for a copy of the minutes of the most recent AGM of the Boys Sports Club Group Committee. These were never furnished, but by letter dated 31 July 1993 Thomas Hamilton sent to Mr Flett what purported to be minutes of an A G M held on 8 August 1993. Mr Flett wrote again to Thomas Hamilton pointing out that the minutes which had been supplied were of a meeting subsequent to that requested. In order to see whether the parents' complaints could be backed up by 'hard' evidence DC Taylor obtained the consent of the Scout Association to examine their file on Thomas Hamilton on 20 October 1993. From this file he was able to read that he had been suspected of improper behaviour towards boys. A letter in the file also attributed to Mr B D Fairgrieve the view that Thomas Hamilton was "mentally unbalanced", but Mr Fairgrieve said to him that he could not substantiate that particular comment about him, which was purely a personal opinion.

4.60   Arising from the summer camp organised by Thomas Hamilton in 1993 at Dunblane High School, a further complaint was received by the police. It was similar in nature to previous complaints: children who were scantily clad in black swimming trunks were the subject of photographs which the parents considered to be inappropriate. On the instruction of the Deputy Chief Constable, DS (now Superintendent) Holden and DS Moffat interviewed Thomas Hamilton at his home in October 1993 in regard to the organisation and composition of his committee and the complaint which had been made about his methods and use of photography. Thomas Hamilton refused to supply details of people who were on his committee, despite reminders. During the interview, which lasted two hours or more, DS Holden gained the impression that the clubs filled most of Thomas Hamilton's life. He was quite obsessive about his methods and manner of organising the exercises. He would tolerate no criticism of his conduct of the clubs or of the boys' dress. A short question on the methods of training he used would elicit a lengthy reply and a very persuasive argument in favour of his methods. He gave the impression that he had rehearsed these arguments many times. He was quite calm and articulate, very polite but extremely evasive on the subject of the members of the club committee. DS Holden considered that he was lying on that point. He reported back to the Deputy Chief Constable who by that stage was well aware of complaints about children being required to dress in swimming trunks with bare tops and inappropriate photographs being taken of them.

4.61   It may be noted that throughout the years Thomas Hamilton's stream of letters of complaint and self-justification continued unabated. He expressed a complete lack of faith in any of the complaints procedures and tried on various occasions to enlist the help of his MP. He frequently wrote to parents defending himself and attacking the police. He tried to involve The Scottish Office, complaining about the way that the police were handling his complaints, with the result that the police had to keep The Scottish Office regularly up to date on what was happening. DCC McMurdo became obviously exasperated at what he described as his irrational outpourings in vindictive correspondence. The police were obliged to follow up persistent complaints which were quite absurd. He considered Thomas Hamilton to be bitter and petty-minded, perverting the healthy relationship between police officers and the Scout movement into something sleazy and dishonourable. He found it difficult to try to reason with a person whom he described as a zealot (cf para 6.43).

4.62   In October 1993 a yet further complaint was received from parents, in this instance in regard to a boy who had attended Balfron Boys Club. The parents asked for reassurance about the running of the club and posed a number of specific questions. They too expressed concern that Thomas Hamilton had insisted that the children were topless, that he had required the children to change into black swimming trunks, and that he had taken photographs of them. This letter was followed up DS Moffat, but he had to explain to them that there was nothing in their letter which was not already known to him and to the Procurator Fiscal.

4.63   Further similar complaints about clubs on the premises of Central Regional Council were expressed in December 1994. These were referred to the police, but were not reported to the Procurator Fiscal because of his previous decision to take no proceedings against Thomas Hamilton in similar circumstances. The Regional Council wrote to Thomas Hamilton asking why swimming trunks were essential and whether he had made it clear to parents that photographs would be taken. His reply contained a lengthy justification of his methods but did not provide straight answers to the questions. Thomas Hamilton continued to enjoy the general support of Councillor Ball. In 1995 the Regional Council had frequent discussions as to how they could make it more difficult for Thomas Hamilton to obtain a let of school premises. Some of their discussions involved DS Moffat. In May 1995 the Regional Council required Thomas Hamilton to give parents advance information that their children might be photographed: and in June they declined to accede to his request that teachers at Bannockburn Primary School should be instructed not to make comments about him and that a letter of apology about such comments should be sent to all parents. The fact that the Regional Council did not terminate his lets resulted from the belief that, in the absence of more substantial evidence, termination would not be sustainable. The Regional Council were also wary of encountering the repetition of an adverse report by the Ombudsman.