Extradition delay 'crushing' for former pupils

A former Edinburgh Academy pupil who travelled to South Africa for the extradition hearing of his alleged abuser has said it is "crushing" that proceedings were called off at the last minute.

A court in Cape Town was due to hear legal arguments on whether Iain Wares, 86, should be extradited to Scotland, where he faces allegations of abuse while teaching at the school and also at Fettes College in the 1970s.

The hearing was cancelled because the state prosecutor was unavailable due to illness and a replacement could not be found.

Neil Douglas, one of three alleged victims of Wares who had travelled from the UK to watch the proceedings, said: "Disappointing is barely the word for it."

"I'm angry, I'm upset, I feel let down," he added.

Douglas had flown to South Africa to watch proceedings with George Scott and Roy Hurhangee, who allege they were targeted at Fettes College.

"It's not so much the money, it's the investment in time to come and see justice being done and yet again South Africa has failed to deliver justice," he said.

"I have sympathy for the state prosecutor but somebody should have been briefed and ready to step in.

"It's almost like South Africa is the perfect haven for paedophiles because cases take too long and they just keep running and the paedophiles keeps escaping.

"There was so much staked on this being the day when finally the extradition warrant would be dealt with, the extradition decision would be made and we could kind of have the relief that he's eventually going to get back into Scotland and it hasn't happened.

"We've been let down yet again by the justice system in South Africa."

The court said there will be a procedural hearing on 28 April to set a new date for the extradition enquiry.

Douglas said: "Who knows if it's ever going to happen, it just keeps delaying, South Africa protects paedophiles, South Africa seems to encourage paedophiles."

Wares now lives in Cape Town, where the high court previously ruled he could be extradited to face trial in Scotland. This was delayed when authorities submitted further charges.

In a separate case, a Cape Town court has found him guilty of indecently assaulting a former student in South Africa who accused him of sexual abuse in the 1980s. He is due to be sentenced in May.

Douglas said: "Iain Wares - lets face it - is a convicted paedophile and he's still walking the streets in South Africa, he's still going to shopping malls, he's still got access to children, and we're just being ignored."

He added that the UK and South Africa needed to "make sure Iain Wares is taken off the streets so he cannot harm any more children".

Prosecutors in Scotland first requested Wares' extradition in 2018, leading to his arrest the following year on seven charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour.

The High Court in Cape Town ruled in 2024 that he could be extradited on three charges, but the process was delayed as the authorities in Scotland looked to bring further charges.

Wares was arrested under a UK extradition warrant in October last year before being released on bail.

His accusers include BBC presenter Nicky Campbell, who was not abused by Wares but has said he witnessed the sexual abuse of a pupil by the teacher.

South Africa's national prosecuting authority said the additional charges included 60 counts of sexual assault, four of rape and 25 of assault.

Wares denies the charges and has fought against the extradition.