School originally based in Harrogate speaks out after offer of sex abuse compensation claims is issued by legal firm

Solicitors firm Simpson Millar said it was urging former pupils of Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate to contact them and said it is happy to help them launch new compensation claims against the school.

The appeal by the Leeds-based company follows the jailing in July 2021 for more than three years of the school’s former owner and chair of governors Brian Martin of Ferrensby, Knaresborough for the historical sexual abuse of two pupils at the independent school near York.

In addition, last September saw Alexander Charles Ralls, former deputy headteacher and child protection officer at Queen Ethelburga’s, jailed for 16 years for sexually abusing 20 young victims.

Nathalie Swanwicks, a member of Simpson Millar’s specialist abuse team, said: "We strongly urge anybody who has been a victim of Brian Martin or Alexander Ralls to reach out for support.

“Anyone who has been affected may also be able to bring a civil claim for compensation.

"While no amount of money can ever make up for what they experienced, it can provide them with vital funds that can help them to access the help needed to rebuild their lives following the abuse that they endured.”

But a spokesperson for Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate said its primary concern lay in safeguarding.

"We agree wholeheartedly with Simpson Millar’s statement that abuse victims deserve and require help to rebuild their lives,” said the school.

"Where it is genuinely felt that this is best achieved through legal action, we, of course, respect that position.

“We would like to say firmly that the isolated actions of these two individuals were entirely at odds with our culture and values.”

A recent report conducted by the Independent Schools Inspectorate at Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate concluded the following: “'Effective safeguarding arrangements are in place at Queen Ethelburga’s.

It continued: "Staff are appropriately trained, and concerns are reported promptly.”

Founded in 1912 in Harrogate as a girls school, Queen Ethelburga’s School moved to its current site at Thorpe Underwood Estate near York in 1991 when Brian Martin became its owner.

The senior school has been co-educational since 1999 and draws pupils from more than 30 countries.

Martin was sent to prison at Leeds Crown Court in 2021 following a retrial for a sexual assault on a boy in the late 2000s that was first put before a jury in 2018.

Martin was also found guilty of indecent assault on a girl in the early-to-mid 1990s at another retrial held in 2019.