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Presenter Nicky Campbell has described the sexual and physical abuse he says he suffered at the Edinburgh Academy he attended as a child, comparing one teacher to Jimmy Savile.

The 62-year-old broadcaster attended Edinburgh Academy, a fee-paying school, between 1966 and 1978, from aged five to 17.

Warning: This story contains descriptions which some readers may find distressing

He told the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry (SCAI) that he was sexually assaulted by a teacher, Hamish Dawson, who died in 2009, and alleged he witnessed a primary-age child being sexually assaulted by another teacher, Iain Wares, whom he compared to Savile.

Savile, who is believed to be one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders, died in 2011 aged 84, having never been brought to justice for his crimes.

Permission was given by the inquiry’s chair earlier this year to identify Wares, 83, who was previously a “protected person” and was referred to by a pseudonym.

Campbell first detailed his claims of sexual abuse last year, on an episode of his podcast Different on BBC Sounds.

Speaking on Tuesday, Campbell said he was still “haunted” by his schooldays and had previously turned to prescription medication to cope with the bad memories, but described his decision to share his experiences at the inquiry as “the best decision he had ever made”.

Campbell said he had largely hidden the abuse from his adoptive parents, Sheila and Frank Campbell, saying it began in junior school but escalated in senior school.

He described a moment in preparatory school when he allegedly saw Wares molesting a young pupil in the showers.

‘The smell of carbolic soap is triggering’

Campbell said: “This has haunted me since it happened.

“It all haunts you. I have had my penis touched by a teacher.

“The smell of carbolic soap is triggering.

“I remember Wares leaning over the back of my friend and masturbating him.”

Campbell also said when he was 14 or 15 years old, he was attacked by a teacher so violently that a friend who witnessed it thought he was being mugged by a stranger. The teacher cannot be identified for legal reasons.

He said that after the alleged assault, when he threatened to contact the police, his mother had contacted Edinburgh Academy.

He described himself as a “survivor” and said: “I’m 62 years old but Hamish Dawson’s hands are still in my underwear playing with my penis.”

He also described the physical assault by another teacher as “being tossed like a ragdoll, punching and kicking me,” and said the abuse “helped shape our lives in the most heinous way”.

Wares has reportedly been fighting extradition to face charges following allegations against him during his time as a teacher in the 60s and 70s. The BBC report Wares has denied the allegations against him.

The BBC presenter became visibly angry when speaking about Wares living in a “plush retirement home” – and demanded a public apology from Edinburgh Academy, claiming it moved the teacher on to Fettes College, another high-profile school also in Edinburgh.

Campbell said: “You sent him there after a parent complained. You must [apologise] unreservedly and do it now.”

He said mandatory reporting (the legal requirement for those who work with children or in law enforcement to report child sexual abuse) “breaks this pernicious code,” and urged for it to be brought in.

A spokesman for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said: “This has been a complex investigation and COPFS appreciates that it has been difficult for all those involved.

“In order to protect any future proceedings and to preserve the rights of the complainers, the Crown will not comment further at this stage.”

Campbell wrote a memoir, Blue-Eyed Son: The Story Of An Adoption, published in 2004, and was given an OBE for services to children in the Queen’s birthday honours in 2015.

An Edinburgh Academy spokesperson said: “Schools should be safe places for everyone and, at various points in our history, this was not the case for too many of our pupils.

“They were wronged by specific individuals whose roles were to educate, protect and nurture them. For this, the Edinburgh Academy unreservedly apologises.

“We recognise that abuse during childhood has wide-ranging consequences for that individual throughout their life and we are fully committed to supporting our former pupils and helping in the investigations into accusations of historical abuse.

“Given the seriousness of these matters, we believe it’s right that we give our views to the inquiry in the first instance and reserve any detailed comment for an appropriate time when its work has progressed.

“The Edinburgh Academy thanks those members of our community who have come forward and assisted the SCAI with its proceedings. This will have been an incredibly difficult undertaking and we applaud their courage in doing so.”

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Kanye West’s Yeezy online shopping platform taken down over swastika T-shirts

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Kanye West's Yeezy online shopping platform taken down over swastika T-shirts

Kanye West’s Yeezy online shopping platform has been taken down after selling T-shirts featuring a swastika.

The rapper, also known as Ye, used a Super Bowl commercial on Sunday to send people to his website to buy the clothing emblazoned with the Nazi symbol – an image often used by the extreme-right.

The ecommerce platform Shopify, which hosts many online shops and businesses, has deactivated his site and his domain name yeez.com is being sold for $98,999 (£79,692).

Shopify said in an emailed statement to Sky News’ sister channel NBC News: “All merchants are responsible for following the rules of our platform. This merchant did not engage in authentic commerce practices and violated our terms so we removed them from Shopify.”

West’s representative is yet to respond to a request from NBC for comment.

The white T-shirts featured a black swastika on the front and were the only items for sale on the front page of yeezy.com.

No text or explanation accompanied the item, just the letters “HH-01.” They were available for $20 (£16).

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Initially, West’s site showed a notice from Shopify which said the store was “unavailable”.

screengrab of yeez.com, Kayne's website which host shopify has taken down after it featured T-shifts featuring a swastika
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yeez.com was taken offline by Shopify, the e-commerce platform which was hosting his shop

But the site now redirects to the registrar GoDaddy, the platform which manages yeez.com, where a page shows the domain name is for sale.

GoDaddy has not yet responded to questions about the sale and whether it was enforced by the company or initiated by West.

Screenshot showing yeez.com domain is for sale on godaddy
https://www.godaddy.com/forsale/yeez.com
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The domain name yeez.com can be bought for $98,999 (£79,692)

The decision to sell the T-shirt triggered widespread criticism, including from the Anti-Defamation League (ADF) which posted a statement on X on Monday, describing the shirt sales as further proof of West’s antisemitism.

The organisation, formed to combat anti-Jewish bigotry and discrimination, explained that the swastika was adopted by Hitler and “continues to threaten and instil fear in those targeted by antisemitism and white supremacy”.

The ADF also said the T-shirt was labelled on Kanye’s website as ‘HH-01’ – suggesting this was code for “Heil Hitler”.

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West has in recent days been posting antisemitic messages on X, as well as writing “I love Hitler” and “I’m a Nazi”. His account then had a “sensitive content warning” added to it before he posted a final message.

“I’m logging out of Twitter,” he wrote. “I appreciate [X owner] Elon [Musk] for allowing me to vent.”

After his account was deactivated on Monday, his spokesperson Milo Yiannopoulos issued an explanation.

“Ye is an intergenerational artist and icon who continues to redefine the limits of creativity and free expression. He has deactivated his X account for the time being,” he said in a statement.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism was joined by Friends star David Schwimmer in calling for Elon Musk to remove West from X over a string of offensive posts.

One of the most successful figures in hop-hip, West built up a fashion brand called Yeezy which began as a collaboration with Adidas. But the German sportswear giant cut ties with him in 2022 over his antisemitic remarks and eventually reached a settlement in October.

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Lisa Riley reacts to Peter Kay’s ‘upsetting’ gig jibe

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Lisa Riley reacts to Peter Kay's 'upsetting' gig jibe

Lisa Riley has reacted to reports that Peter Kay likened a heckler to her, insisting she’s “not offended”.

The Bolton comedian was performing his Manchester gig on Saturday night when a woman was removed by security guards after shouting “We love you Peter”. Kay is said to have likened her to Riley as she was being taken out.

The audience member has said she is “annoyed and upset” about the comments.

“To go to a show and feel like you’re having the mick taken out of you because of your weight, I was just a bit shocked,” she told the Manchester Evening News.

“The whole arena was laughing, I think they thought it was part of the show but there was a nastiness to his voice. It was like he was trying to get the crowd against me – it just wasn’t nice, to be honest.”

Riley, 48, is best known for playing Mandy Dingle in Emmerdale and also fronted You’ve Been Framed in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Appearing to respond to her impromptu mention during the show, Riley posted a picture on Instagram on Monday which read: “Keep calm and laugh”. She added the message: “It’s a laugh, it’s funny!!!”

She then followed it up on Tuesday with a post on Instagram which said: “Please draw a line under this now. I am not offended, never was offended. I love Peter Kay to pieces. Laughter is my favourite medicine”.

Kay was also understood to have thrown two men out of the same gig after one repeatedly shouted “garlic bread,” which is one of Kay’s catchphrases.

Kay told ITV’s Good Morning Britain he had taken action against hecklers as they were ruining the show for others, and it was “no longer fair” to the other audience members.

In response to his likening of one audience member to Riley, he said in a statement to the show: “I didn’t realise it was an insult. She did look remarkably like Lisa Riley, I didn’t realise that was an insult”.

One audience member told the Manchester Evening News that Kay had “shouted” at the hecklers for “a good three to five minutes” during the show.

They said the audience was mixed in their reaction: “Some couldn’t believe it and were obviously annoyed and others were laughing, either thinking it was part of the show or going along with it.”

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Kay, 51, who has been performing his record-breaking Better Late Than Never Again tour since 2022, recently performed his 100th show at the AO Arena – the same venue the three hecklers were expelled from.

Tickets to watch the show start at £35, but go up to about £350 for top-notch seats.

Sky News has contacted representatives for Kay for comment.

Kay is currently scheduled to perform his tour into spring 2026.

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Pilot killed as Motley Crue frontman’s jet crashes at Arizona airport

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Pilot killed as Motley Crue frontman's jet crashes at Arizona airport

A pilot has died after a private jet owned by Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil crashed into another plane at an airport in Arizona.

Neil was not on board at the time of the collision, which happened off the runway at Scottsdale Airport on Monday afternoon.

Neil’s girlfriend Rain Andreani and her friend suffered injuries which are not thought to be life-threatening.

They were taken to hospital with the jet’s co-pilot, who was also injured.

Emergency responders work on Vince Neil's plane after the collision. Pic: AP
Image:
Emergency responders work on Vince Neil’s plane after the collision. Pic: AP

“While details are still emerging, our hearts go out to the families of both the pilot who lost his life and the passengers who suffered injuries,” Motley Crue said in a statement.

“Motley Crue will announce a way to help support the family of the deceased pilot – stand by for an announcement very soon”.

Rain Andreani broke five ribs in the crash and the dogs the women were travelling with survived, TMZ reports.

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Firefighters work around the site of a crashed Learjet at Scottsdale Airport after it collided with a parked plane Monday, Feb. 10, 2025, in Scottsdale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Image:
Pic: AP

Neil’s jet was arriving from Austin, Texas, when one of its two sets of landing gears failed.

The Learjet veered off the runway after landing and crashed into a Gulfstream 200 business jet.

Neil’s lawyer said the singer is “grateful for the critical aid of all first responders assisting today”.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the incident was under investigation.

Motley Crue enjoyed major success throughout the 1980s, selling more than 100 million records.

Vince Neil fronted the rock band from their formation in 1981 until he left in 1992.

He later reunited with the band in 1996 and fronted them until they retired in 2015, and again from the band’s 2018 reunion onwards.

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