Former Shropshire head too ill to stand trial over historic sex abuse charges
A 96-year-old former headmaster of a school in south Shropshire will not face trial over historic sexual abuse charges after a judge ruled he was too ill.
Jack Mount had already been cleared of one set of charges at a trial at Barnstaple Crown Court and a jury at a second trial was unable to agree on verdicts.
He had been due to face a third trial later this year relating to eight complainants who were allegedly abused during the 1960s and 1970s when he was running the Brookside School at Craven Arms.
Judge Geoffrey Mercer QC withdrew all the remaining charges against him at Exeter Crown Court after ruling he was too frail and unwell to stand trial.
Mount was not required to be present at the short hearing and did not attend. Judge Mercer made his decision on the basis of Mount's deteriorating health and the unavailability of any court listing before November.
He said: "I see no sensible prospect of him being fit enough for a further trial, even if it is held before November.
"I am fully conscious of the complainants' position but after two trials, and observing the defendant's condition and its deterioration, it is quite clear all indictments should be stayed."
Mount, of Paradise Lawn, South Molton, had faced charges dating back more than 50 years and alleging offences against 10 boys and seven girls between 1953 and 1979.
The offences were alleged to have taken place in Barnsley between 1953 and 1957, Birmingham between 1957 and 1962, and Shropshire between 1967 and 1979.
Mount was one of the oldest defendants ever to stand trial in Britain and the cases were divided up into three different trials.
