A paedophile teacher who locked boys in a school swimming pool and forced them to skinny dip with him now stands accused of abusing children in trampolining lessons too.
Lawyers building a class action lawsuit over years of alleged abuse by Michael Quinlan have credited the Romford Recorder’s investigative reporting with bringing forward the fresh allegations.
Quinlan has twice been convicted of sexually abusing boys at the Royal Liberty School in Gidea Park, where he taught between the 1980s and the 2000s.
Last year, the Recorder reported that Andrew Grove and Co solicitors were representing five complainants in a lawsuit.
The firm says that number has now risen to 12, with a further ten people coming forward as witnesses.
Lawyer Katherine Yates said they have received reports he inappropriately touched people in the swimming pool and during trampolining sessions.
One parent told lawyers their son was “traumatised” after being forced to swim naked with Quinlan.
They claimed they reported it to the school but nothing happened, so they moved their child to another school.
Quinlan would be convicted in 2004 of doing exactly the same thing to other boys.
Prosecutor Pam Oon told Snaresbrook Crown Court: “The door would be padlocked from the inside and when he heard noises from outside he would tell the boys to put their trunks back on.”
He was convicted of indecent assault and gross indecency on males under 16, and sexual activity with a person under 18 while in a position of trust.
In 2022, he was convicted of further, historic charges after more complainants came forward.
Two more parents, who joined the case after being found by the Recorder, said they too complained to the school after their sons said Quinlan would ogle boys in the showers.
But no action was taken, they claimed, with the school insisting Quinlan was “just a very hygienic man”.
When nothing was done, one of their boys started refusing to attend school and the couple were prosecuted over his truancy.
“To this day they have criminal records,” said Ms Yates. “Where is the justice for those parents?”
We also interviewed a man who said Quinlan took him into an office as a boy, closed the door, sat him on his lap and gave him a prolonged back rub.
He said it was an “open secret” that Quinlan was a paedophile, so well-known that he was warned about it before he even arrived at Royal Liberty.
“How he got away with it is beyond me,” said ex-pupil Lee Chalmers. “How other teachers didn’t pick up on it is beyond me.
“Everyone called him Paedo Quinlan. It was just known. He would get called ‘paedo’, or ‘The Kiddie Fiddler’. We all knew.”
Andrew Grove and Co is preparing to sue Havering Council, which ran the school, on a no win, no fee basis.
The council has said it cannot comment on live legal cases but it now has strong safeguarding procedures.
Our past exclusive reports on the Royal Liberty 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'
- 'Teacher took me to his office and rubbed my back. Everyone knew he was a paedo'
- WATCH: Paedophile teacher confronted by Romford Recorder over new allegations
The Royal Liberty School is now run by a trust which had no involvement during Quinlan’s employment and is not implicated in any wrongdoing.
“There is still time to join the civil lawsuit,” said Ms Yates. “If you have any information that could add to the picture of Quinlan’s abusive behaviour whilst at the school, please make contact because you will be helping not only former pupils who were abused by him but also in some cases their parents.”
The Recorder this month tracked Quinlan to an Essex coffee shop and confronted him, placing his face in the public domain for the first time.
He denied any offences besides those he had already been convicted of and told the Recorder not to seek any comment from him in relation to any future reporting.
“I admitted in court what I’ve done wrong,” he said. “I’ve always said I’d apologise for my behaviour I’ve pleaded guilty to, and the court has dealt with me.”
Ms Yates said: “We are very grateful to the Romford Recorder for their help in bringing this legal action to the attention of people in the local area.
“Their help has been of huge assistance to our quest for obtaining justice for Quinlan’s victims.”
*To contact Ms Yates or her colleague Charlotte Denley, call 01223 367133 or 07810 224545, or email katherine@andrewgroveandco.com or charlotte@andrewgroveandco.com.
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