Sentencing of former Edinburgh teacher guilty of South Africa sex attack postponed

A former teacher accused of historical sex abuse charges in Scotland has had his sentencing for a sex attack in South Africa postponed for a third time.

In March, a court found that Iain Wares, 86, indecently assaulted a former pupil at Rondebosch Boys’ Primary School in Cape Town in 1988.

The hearing was postponed after Wares’ legal team submitted a sick note to Wynberg Magistrate’s Court in the South African city which said he would not be able to appear for sentencing.

The sentencing was also postponed on 13 May and 17 June. The next hearing for the case will now be on 21 July. It will be procedural to set a new sentencing date and Wares is not expected to be at that hearing.

Wares, who now lives in Cape Town, has been accused of abuse by scores of former pupils of Edinburgh Academy and Fettes College, where he taught in the 1960s and 1970s.

A South African judge previously ruled he could be extradited to face trial in Scotland – although this was delayed when authorities submitted further charges.

Prosecutors in Scotland first requested Wares’ extradition in 2018, leading to his arrest the following year on seven charges of lewd, indecent and libidinous practices and behaviour.

Wares was then arrested under a UK extradition warrant in October last year before being released on bail.

An extradition hearing was due to take place on 16 April but was cancelled because the state prosecutor was unavailable due to illness and a replacement could not be found.

Wares’ accusers include BBC presenter Nicky Campbell, who was not abused by Wares but has said he witnessed the sexual abuse of a pupil by the teacher.

South Africa’s national prosecuting authority said the additional charges included 60 counts of sexual assault, four of rape and 25 of assault.

Wares denies the charges and has fought against the extradition.