BBC's Nicky Campbell tells court teacher who attacked him 'completely lost it'

Broadcaster Nicky Campbell has told a court a maths teacher "completely lost it" and violently attacked him in the courtyard of Edinburgh Academy when he was a pupil there in the 1970s.

The 65-year-old said he was around 15 when he was initially "yanked from behind" by Colin Turner beside a school noticeboard when he was running late for class.

Campbell said he was then "rag dolled" by the teacher and described being shaken, slapped and dragged across the playground.

He was giving evidence during an examination of facts hearing held at Edinburgh Sheriff Court.

Turner and David Bourne, another former teacher, are accused of attacking pupils at the prestigious fee-paying school but have been deemed medically unfit to stand trial.

A sheriff will instead hear evidence in the case and determine whether there are grounds for a conviction.

Campbell was a pupil at Edinburgh Academy between 1966 and 1978, from when he was aged five until he was 17.

The BBC Radio 5 Live presenter told the court he was a "skinny teenage pupil" when he was attacked by Turner - who he said was a "physically imposing" man.

Prior to the incident, he said that he and another pupil were looking at a timetable on a noticeboard after the lunchtime break, trying to find out where they should be.

He said there were a few stragglers in the playground but most pupils had gone to class.

Campbell told the court he was "yanked from behind", adding: "I didn't know what was going on, didn't know who it was until I turned around and he [Turner] started hitting me.

"He shook me around and started slapping me. He utterly lost it. It was an absolute frenzy."

Teacher 'dealt with'

Campbell said immediately after the incident it was as if "the red mist lifted" and he and Turner went into a nearby common room and sat down at a table.

He told the court he was still sobbing.

The presenter said he told the teacher "I could call the police on you for that" and that the teacher appeared "chastened."

Campbell said he went home with a torn shirt. He told the court his mother saw he was "distraught" and called the school.

Following this, he said there was "correspondence" and that he remembered his mother later saying that Turner had been "dealt with".

Later in his evidence, Campbell told the court that he saw his Edinburgh Academy pupil file for the first time three or four weeks ago.

Asked if there was any record of this incident in it, he replied: "No, it was ridiculously scant."