A “sadistic” teacher who abused young girls in residential care over a 15-year period has been spared jail and instructed to pay £1,000 per victim.
Patricia Robertson, 77, was convicted of a litany of offences committed between 1969 and 1984 on girls as young as five at Fornethy House in Kilry, Angus.
The offences included delivering punishments for wetting the bed, force-feeding, banging girls’ heads together and dragging children by their hair, the High Court in Glasgow heard.
Robertson, who was 21 at the time of her first offence, was convicted of cruel and unnatural treatment against 18 victims in October following a trial.
Many of Robertson’s victims were in court on Wednesday for sentencing, and they branded her sentence “disgusting” and an “absolute joke” from the public gallery.
The incidents of abuse included that Robertson force-fed a nine-year-old girl, making her vomit, forced her to stand in darkness in a confined space and ridiculed her for wetting the bed.
She tied an 11-year-old girl to a bed and made her remove her underwear so she could be slapped and hit with a wooden implement, and also destroyed a postcard from her mother.
Robertson seized a child by the neck and forced her to stand against a wall, banged a child’s head against a desk and dragged her by her hair.
She used “derogatory language” towards an eight-year-old girl, forced a seven-year-old child to sleep in soiled bedding after ridiculing her for bed-wetting, and refused to allow another girl, seven, to urinate, causing her to wet herself.
She was convicted of forcing a primary-age child to eat her own vomit after force-feeding her, and of slapping a child around the face, seizing her hair and dragging her by the ears.
She also forced a child aged between eight and 10 to walk despite having injured feet, and restricted her breathing by tightening her clothing, and made another child walk across rough terrain wearing only one boot.
Sentencing, Judge Lord Colbeck said: “Your victims were aged between five to 12, mostly there due to poverty.
“Many on them spoke of excitement at going to Fornethy House. Those dreams ended when the door closed. It is clear you behaved in a sadistic manner to many young girls.
“You ridiculed children when they wet the bed, and force-fed children food, causing them to gag and vomit.
“You were in position of trust and responsibility and abused that.”
He said the offending was of “exceptionally high culpability” and victims had been left with trauma which amounted to “life sentences”, the court heard.
The judge said Robertson, now known as Baxter, had shown “no insight” into her crimes.
He added: “Your suggestion that the victims made allegations for financial reasons is frankly absurd and contradicts the evidence of a former colleague. There is no doubt the custodial threshold has been met.”
However, he imposed a supervision order for three years and also made a restriction order meaning Robertson must stay in her home in Witham, Essex, between 3pm until midnight.
He ordered her to pay a total of £18,000 to the victims within the next two months.
Defending, Mark Stewart KC, said: “Mrs Baxter is now 77, the offences of which she was convicted ran until 1984, then she departed from that school around that time and took up position elsewhere. From the report and testimonials she had a fairly positive teaching career.”
Rona Hargan, who spent time at Fornethy between 1976 and 1979 and was one of Robertson’s victims, said the sentence was “too light”.
She described her time there as “hell”, and said: “It was horrendous and to get three years probation is an absolute joke, I lose faith in the justice system.”
She said Robertson is an “evil woman” and memories of her time at Fornethy remain with her, adding: “It was like a horror movie that you live constantly in your mind and we’ll live with this for the rest of our life.”
Another victim of Robertson’s cruelty said after sentencing: “Patricia Robertson’s lack of remorse for hurting me and other helpless girls proves what a wicked woman she is.
“She is a shameful monster and she can’t hide from what she’s done. We were abused and bore witness to the violence we suffered.
“Being found guilty proves we have been heard and believed.”
Laura Connor, a partner at Thompsons Solicitors and head of the Life Impact Team there, said: “The sentencing today was very disappointing. There are a lot of angry people around the court today.”
Thompsons is representing around 220 people who say they were affected by their time at Fornethy and are pursuing civil claims.
Faye Cook, of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: “Patricia Robertson should have nurtured and supported these children but instead inflicted lasting trauma through her criminal actions.
“Cruel and unnatural treatment is a charge used by prosecutors to capture the dynamics of systematic child abuse over a period of time.
“It is now a matter of public record that she grossly violated her duty of care while holding a position of trust and power at Fornethy House.
“This type of abuse has never been acceptable and it should not have happened.”
Catherine Hammond, senior associate for Digby Brown solicitors, which is also pursuing several civil claims, said: “I would like to commend each person who has spoken, it all helps break the walls of silence which perpetrators rely on to escape punishment.
“For many this will not necessarily mean ‘closure’. Wounds do not end just because court proceedings do.”
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council, which ran Fornethy House, said: “Our thoughts are with the victims of these crimes and we know that this will have been a harrowing process to go through.
“Last year, Glasgow’s council leader issued a public apology to victims of Fornethy House.
“We will now be considering matters in light of these convictions.”
