William Brydson committed the offences while employed as Head of Care at Monken Hadley, latterly known as Woodlands School, in Newton Stewart.

The now 78-year-old was convicted of 12 charges on 4 December 2025 following a trial at the High Court in Kilmarnock. This included charges of rape, indecent assault and assault to injury with the offences taking place in the 1970s and 1980s.

On 21 January 2026, Brydson, of Nairn, was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh and jailed for 10 years. 

His name has been added to the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.

Faye Cook, procurator fiscal for High Court sexual offences, said: “The conviction of William Brydson lays bare the horrific abuse suffered by vulnerable children at Monken Hadley and Woodlands School. What these young people endured was not only criminal – it was a devastating abuse of trust that should never have happened.

“As a house master and Head of Care, he held a position meant to protect and nurture. Instead, he used it to inflict repeated physical and sexual abuse, leaving lives shattered and scarred.”