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Claims dead headteacher could be one of Wales' most prolific paedophiles with more than 100 victims
By Martin Shipton
New claims surrounding a former headteacher from Newport who killed himself when he was confronted with an allegation of child abuse suggest he was one of the most prolific paedophiles in recent Welsh history. BBC One Wales programme Week In Week Out has been told by solicitors representing several of his alleged victims that Jon Styler is now thought to have targeted around 100 boys. Andrew Collingbourne, a solicitor representing several of Styler’s alleged victims, told the programme: “I believe we’ve only scratched the surface, there could be 100 plus victims.” Styler, a charismatic former head teacher of the Church in Wales primary school at Malpas near Newport, hanged himself in 2007 while being investigated by Gwent Police about an allegation of abuse against a boy. More: This is the paedophile banned from entering more than 300 parks in Cardiff Police launch internal reviewBut Week In Week Out discovered that detectives did not take into account information that was given to the same force two years earlier claiming Styler had abused other boys at the same Newport school. Gwent Police has now launched an internal review as a result of the programme’s investigation. A man, who cannot be named but who has spoken to the programme, says he went to Gwent Police in 2005 claiming he and his brother – a former police officer – were targeted by Styler in the headteacher’s office and when he took them away for a weekend. But the man decided not to pursue the matter as a formal complaint because of concerns about the impact a case might have on his brother’s career and family. Nevertheless his brother, a former police officer at the time, says this information should have been kept as a matter of course for intelligence. He also agreed to speak to the programme, saying: “It’s such a shame. Little things, details matter in policing. They matter enormously. So why wasn’t that link made? Why wasn’t there an investigation into other teachers from the school. Why weren’t questions asked, even in 2007?”. More: Shamed deputy headteacher jailed for spying on pupils in toilets and showers Formal complaint to IPCCThree weeks after Week In Week Out contacted Gwent Police, a report was found relating to the allegation made in 2005 against Styler. The internal review, now being carried out, will look into why these allegations did not come to light during the 2007 investigation. Week in Week Out has also learned that a formal complaint has been made to the Independent Police Complaints Commission. Newport City Council social services department should also have had a log that Gwent Police contacted them in 2005 and 2007 but they have told Week In Week Out that no such record can be found. They also said they have no record of Styler’s personnel files which it would have inherited from Gwent County Council following local government reorganisation. Lyndon Millinship, a former deputy head teacher at the school in Malpas, has spoken publicly for the first time to Week In Week Out. He raised concerns with Gwent County Council and governors at the school about Styler’s behaviour in the late 1970s – but Styler was allowed to continue teaching. He says he was disappointed that no one in authority spoke to the children back then. “In hindsight I think you can say it was very costly,” he said. “It’s amazing really: they could have spoken to the children quite easily as long as the parents were present every time.” He also says he would have been happy to speak to the police in 2005 or 2007 if he’d been contacted. Allegations spanning 25 yearsThere are now allegations made against Styler spanning 25 years. The latest person to come forward is a former pupil of Bowbrook School in Hartlebury, Worcester. He says he was assaulted during the 1980s. Bowbrook private school no longer exists. The Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Sally Holland, told the programme that the 2004 Clywch Report made clear recommendations about how all public bodies should log and share information on child sex abuse cases. She feels the way the Styler case has been handled should be looked at further. “This case fits for me exactly within the Goddard inquiry, that’s a general inquiry into historic sexual abuse claims for the whole of England and Wales”, she said. “Its whole intention is to look at where institutions and organisations may have let down children. "I’d be absolutely supportive of any of the victims who wished to refer the case forward and my office would be prepared to support them in doing that.” 'Lessons have been learned'Ian Johnson, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gwent, says mistakes might have been made in the past, but lessons have been learned and he is urging any victims of historical abuse to come forward. “Part of the internal investigation now will look at the possibility of there being other cases,” he said. “You need to sit down and put process and procedures in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Mr Collingbourne also told the programme that the alleged victims did not complain at the time because they did not think their stories would be believed. But today they are determined to get answers: “This is their way of exorcising their demons really,” he said. “It’s a chapter of a book that has remained open all their life and they want to close it.” He is now bringing a case against Newport City Council on behalf of former pupils alleging that Styler might have been stopped earlier.
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