A former boarding school headteacher convicted of abusing male pupils, both sexually and physically, during the 1970s and 1980s was today imprisoned for 21 years.
Derek Slade, 61, of Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, had been convicted of more than 50 offences. A jury found him guilty of sexually assaulting and beating 12 boys aged between eight and 13 between 1978 and 1983, following a trial at Ipswich crown court.
Jurors heard that Slade ran St George's private school, which was initially based in Wicklewood, Norfolk, then moved to Great Finborough, Suffolk, in 1980.
Prosecutors said Slade hit boys with a slipper, a table tennis bat and his bare hand, then ordered youngsters to write about "whackings I have had".
Slade was arrested after former pupils complained two years ago. One victim said he had never told his parents what had happened. Another described Slade's assaults as "reigns of terror".
The Guardian
