James Barker

475 days ago

So Headmaster: did you really listen to Alex Renton? Lessons for Warwick School

I flagged up my latest piece on historic physical and sexual abuse at Warwick School to the current headmaster yesterday.  He promised that he would listen to the excellent Alex Renton programme on Radio 4 last night. I listened with a glass of brandy in my hand thinking how much this reminded me of Warwick and almost in tears. It was very saddening but illuminating.

791 days ago

40 years too late Warwick School has today apologised to me for the physical abuse I suffered aged 11 at the hands of Geoffrey Eve

Since 2011, I have been urging Warwick School to do something about historic physical and, latterly, sexual abuse of young boys. Two headmasters of Britain’s third oldest school swept the matter under the carpet but, to his credit, the new headmaster, James Barker, himself an OW, has done something. Barker, myself and governor Ruth Weekes had a long Zoom chat today and Warwick says that it believes my allegations against Eve, apologises for what happened and for its 41 years of failure in doing something about it. That was welcome. But that is not enough for Warwick is sitting on far worse secrets.

1074 days ago

Warwick School – Now Headmaster Number 3 seems to go for the child abuse cover up

We are now on the third headmaster at Warwick School since I first raised the issue of historic abuse. At that time, Geoffrey Eve, the man who twice smashed my head against the wall, was 86 but Gus Locke then Deneal Smith kicked the issue into the long grass. Now it seems as if James Barker, the new head and an OW himself, is intent on continuing the cover up culture.

1075 days ago

Another punishment beating: This is how Warwick School covered up the brutality of sadistic abuser Geoffrey Eve in the “good old days”

It was about four years after Geoffrey Eve twice slammed my head against the wall when this tale, relayed to me yesterday by a fellow Old Warwickian, occurred. The boys were 10 and in their final year of the Junior school waiting for the teacher to arrive and one piped up “where is Evo?”

1124 days ago

Warwick School – Damning New Evidence of the cover up of abuse: no more excuses HeadMaster

The reason that I have detailed numerous accounts of physical abuse of schoolboys at Warwick School by sadistic history teacher Geoffrey Eve is twofold: Firstly, I hope to make other victims realise that they are not alone. Secondly, it is for Warwick to accept its failure in terms of a duty of care in not only ignoring abuse but in covering it up. Now I have been made aware of the clearest and most shocking evidence of that cover-up culture and it concerns sexual abuse.

1125 days ago

After Everyone's Invited, will Warwick School's new Headmaster deal with the Geoffrey Eve abuse & other sexual abuse & the cover up, here's the old one washing his hands of it

It appears that after two years in the job, Deneal Smith is no longer headmaster at Warwick School, where 43 years ago sadistic brute Geoffrey Eve, a serial physical abuser of young boys, threw my head against the wall not once but twice. I reprint below Dr Smith’s last email to me, washing his hands of the whole affair. Perhaps new HM, James Barker, himself an OW, might – in light of revelations of Everyone’s Invited – actually deal with this issue.