Twenty people have now come forward in a lawsuit over alleged sexual abuse at a Romford school, lawyers have revealed.
Solicitors suing Havering Council over alleged abuse at the Royal Liberty School said they now had ten complainants and ten witnesses.
Alleged victims have named three former staff members as abusers, one of whom is already a serially-convicted paedophile.
Lawyers have credited the Romford Recorder’s sustained reporting on the case with encouraging many participants to come forward.
They have urged others to follow suit and make contact.
“Largely a result of the Romford Recorder’s publicity of the case, we have received calls from former pupils, their parents and other members of the public,” said Katherine Yates, of Andrew Grove and Co law firm.
“Their information has been incredibly valuable in helping us piece together what happened over this 20-year period.
“However, I know that there are more witnesses out there and would urge anyone with any relevant information, no matter how insignificant they think it might be, to contact us.”
The firm is suing over alleged sexual abuse of children at the school in Gidea Park between the early 1980s and 2003.
Former PE teacher Michael Quinlan left in 2003 upon his arrest for abusing male pupils.
In 2004 he pleaded guilty to multiple child sex offences.
Snaresbrook Crown Court was told he had rubbed sun cream into one 12-year-old boy’s bare bottom.
He would also padlock the swimming pool door from the inside and force boys to swim naked with him.
Judge Timothy King jailed him for 18 months, saying: “I don’t doubt there was an element of grooming because you were targeting pupils for your brand of voyeurism or sexuality.
“You have caused enormous distress and considerable shame.”
In 2022, Quinlan was convicted again after more complainants came forward.
He told jurors he was a paedophile and was particularly attracted to blond, teenage boys, but this time escaped with a suspended sentence.
One complainant in that case, Andre Tyndall, waived his anonymity in February 2023 to speak to the Recorder, revealing that he and four others were bringing a lawsuit.
In August, we revealed that more complainants had come forward after our story on Andre, two of whom had named a second teacher.
In the weeks after that report, more people came forward and a third teacher was named.
In November, we tracked down two parents who said they were left with criminal records after years of complaining about Quinlan’s paedophilia.
Derek Edhouse and Lisa McKatherine said that while none of their sons were abused, they had complained about Mr Quinlan ogling boys in the showers.
Derek said the school responded that Quinlan was “just a very hygienic man”.
When one of their sons began refusing to attend school because of Quinlan’s predatory behaviour, they were prosecuted over his truancy.
“He was reported,” said Derek. “I’ve always said, in my own head, they were covering it up. That’s my personal opinion. Because we actually went up there about it.”
Even after Quinlan pleaded guilty in 2004, one former Royal Liberty headmaster wrote him a “glowing” character reference.
Derek and Lisa agreed to help the lawyers and their clients after we found them.
Then, in early January 2024, ex-pupil Lee Chalmers told the Recorder that while he was not sexually abused, Quinlan once took him into an office, sat him on his lap and gave him a prolonged back rub.
Lee said Quinlan’s perversion was such an “open secret” that he knew about it before he even joined the school.
“How other teachers didn’t pick up on it is beyond me,” he said. “Everyone called him Paedo Quinlan. It was just known. He would get called ‘Paedo’ or ‘The Kiddie Fiddler’. We all knew.”
He too agreed to serve as a witness.
Royal Liberty is now run by a trust which took it over years later and is not implicated in any wrongdoing.
The lawsuit is against Havering Council, which ran the school at the time but says it cannot comment on ongoing litigation.
*Anybody with information can contact Katherine Yates on 01223 367133 or at katherine@andrewgroveandco.com.
Catch up on our exclusive coverage of the Royal Liberty sexual abuse lawsuit:
- 'My teacher abused me. The court set him free. Now I'm suing the council'
- Appeal for witnesses as pupils name second teacher in sexual abuse lawsuit
- Third 'paedophile teacher' named in school sex abuse lawsuit
- 'We told school their teacher was a paedophile. We got charged instead of him'
- 'PE teacher took me to his office and rubbed my back. Everyone knew he was a paedo'
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