Michael Crombie, a former music teacher, was found by a jury to have sexually abused two pupils at the Frances Bardsley School for Girls in Romford between 2006 and 2009. The offences, which included assault by penetration, two sexual assaults, and two sexual assaults on a girl under 13, came to light during the COVID-19 lockdown when the victims reported the abuse.
Crombie, who was 88 and suffering from dementia at the time of the proceedings, was deemed unfit to stand trial. Instead, a trial of the facts was held at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 18 September 2024, where the jury determined that the alleged incidents had indeed occurred. Following the verdict, Crombie received an absolute discharge but was ordered to register at his local police station in Cheshunt for the rest of his life.
This case revealed that Crombie's pattern of abuse extended to his time at Frances Bardsley Academy, despite prior convictions. He had previously been jailed in 2010 for five years after being convicted of inappropriately touching nine students between 1993 and 2001 at Beal Grammar School and Wanstead High School, where he groped girls during 'breathing exercises' in the bath and forcibly kissed them. In 2013, he pleaded guilty to 47 counts of indecent assault and two counts of sexual activity with a child involving 16 victims from 1964 to 2007, receiving an additional three years in prison. Dozens more victims emerged after his initial conviction, highlighting a long history of offending.
Victims and reports indicated that Crombie's sexual interest in pupils was 'common knowledge' at the schools where he taught, yet complaints were ignored. Judge Wendy Joseph remarked in 2013: 'It is clear that complaints were made to schools by a number of girls on a number of occasions, but nobody took any, or any adequate, steps to ensure that this defendant was stopped.' Police first became aware of Crombie in 2000 following a report of him kissing a 17-year-old pupil, but no action was taken at the time. In 2007, he was arrested over three indecent assault complaints but not prosecuted due to insufficient evidence, allowing him to continue teaching at Frances Bardsley.
Crombie passed a Criminal Records Bureau check before starting at the school in 2006. A spokesperson for the LIFE Education Trust, which runs the academy, stated: 'All necessary pre-employment checks including a CRB check were conducted. When the historic abuse regarding pupils who did not attend FBA came to the school's attention in 2010, the school spoke to pupils who had been taught by him and communicated with their parents. No concerns were identified.' The trust expressed sympathy to the victims and confirmed cooperation with authorities following the new allegations.
The Metropolitan Police, through their investigation, uncovered these historic abuses, marking the first public revelation of Crombie's offences at Frances Bardsley. His teaching career spanned decades, from Beal Grammar School (1964-1974) and Wanstead High School (until 1990), to private tutoring and peripatetic roles, during which he abused numerous girls.