Ex-pupil 'devastated' headteacher's abuse trial halted

Jack Mount had been set to face three trials over the allegations, but proceedings against the former head of Brookside School in Ludlow, were ended last week due to his ill health.

The proceedings were split into three parts and the suspect's accuser had been set to appear at the third trial. He said he and others had been denied their "day in court".

"I am absolutely gutted I did not get to have my say," he said. "I've had to lock it all away in my mind for all these years and this was to be the time I was going to be able to tell my story.

"I do not think the case should have been split into three trials because it has dragged on and on. And now it has been dismissed because of his age and health. This should have been one trial and one jury."

Mr Mount denied 50 offences alleged to have taken place between 1954 and 1979. He was found not guilty after the first trial, and during the second a jury cleared him of three charges.

They were discharged after they failed to reach verdicts on other counts.

Judge Geoffrey Mercer QC ruled the third trial should not proceed in light of the defendant's deteriorating condition.

Mr Mount suffers from Parkinson's disease, is visually impaired and uses hearing aids. He had an intermediary to assist him during the trials.

Because of his age and health, the charges, which related to seven complainants, were set to be tried in three parts.

The judge ruled the case could be heard at Barnstaple Crown Court as it was close to the defendant's family home in Devon.

"Jack Mount has been entitled to a fair trial, but we don't feel like we've been treated fairly at all," his accuser said.

However, he added that he felt the police had been supportive and the Crown Prosecution Service had kept him informed about the case.

Had the third trial gone ahead, it would have been Mr Mount's seventh prosecution. He was tried four times in the 1970s over allegations of abuse of boys and girls but never convicted.

He was found not guilty of three rapes and one indecent assault, relating to two girls in the 1950s and 1960s, following the first trial in January and February.

The Second World War veteran was acquitted of eight charges in the 1960s and 1970s including six indecent assault claims after the second trial in April and May.

Prosecutors wanted to retry Mr Mount on these charges, as well as counts relating to further complainants, in the third trial.