Third name given in Royal Liberty School, Romford abuse case

More alleged victims have come forward since the Romford Recorder ran a report four weeks ago about the lawsuit over alleged abuse at the Royal Liberty School.

One former teacher has already been convicted of sexually abusing boys at the school, but others have also been named to lawyers.

“This case is much bigger and more serious than we first thought,” said lawyer Katherine Yates, of Andrew Grove and Co solicitors.

“As more pupils come forward, our investigation is widening into a third member of staff at the school.”

The Recorder reported in August that the law firm had sent a letter to the Royal Liberty School, informing it of an imminent lawsuit.

At that time there were six complainants, all naming former PE teacher Michael Quinlan as an abuser.

Quinlan was convicted of sex offences against male pupils in 2004, then again in 2022.

He stopped working at the school in 2003, when he was first accused.

He was convicted, among other things, of locking the school pool from the inside and forcing boys to swim with him in the nude.

Catch up:

‘My teacher abused me. The court set him free. Now I’m suing the council.’

Appeal for witnesses as ex-pupils name second teacher in sexual abuse lawsuit

In August, we revealed how two of the six accusers had named a second teacher as also being an abuser.

Two further complainants have since come forward, one of whom became the third to name the second teacher, whose name has never been publicly linked to abuse allegations.

One of the two new complainants has also named a third suspect.

There are now eight complainants in total.

“I know that there are many more witnesses and victims out there who experienced this terrible abuse,” said Ms Yates, whose firm is representing the complainants on a no win, no fee basis.

“We urge anyone who might have information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to speak to us.”

 Havering Council, which has been handling press enquiries for the school, said: “We are unable to comment on any potential legal action, however we do want to stress that we have strict policies and procedures in place in all our schools to protect Havering pupils.”

Paul Ward, CEO of the Success For All Educational Trust (SFAET), said: “The Royal Liberty School is now part of SFAET. During the period of these complaints it was a local authority school.

“Any liability lies with the local authority. Our safeguarding at the Royal Liberty is exemplary.”