A primary school teacher from Tillicoutry who was described in court as “Stirling’s equivalent to Jimmy Savile” has been struck off.
Caven Muirhead abused two brothers over a seven-year period, after befriending their parents.
The 56-year-old was allowed to take them on holidays to caravan parks and on outings to Knockhill racing circuit, an air show at RAF Leuchers and Perth Leisure Pool.
After gaining their trust he touched both boys indecently and performed sex acts on the youngsters.
Muirhead was found guilty of five charges of lewd and libidinous practices following a jury trial at Stirling Sheriff Court in November last year and was later jailed for 18 months.
He was ruled “unfit to teach” by the General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS). Muirhead, who was also placed on the sex offenders register following his conviction, did not attend the hearing in Edinburgh.
A spokesperson for the GTCS said: “The panel had regard to the presenting officer’s submissions that the nature of the conviction, under solemn criminal procedure, indicated the respondent’s conduct falls significantly short of the standards expected of a registered teacher.
“The panel noted that, in his response form, the respondent does not admit either the facts or that his fitness to teach is impaired. The panel observed that he provided no evidence or reasons to support his position.
“The panel had in mind the importance of the protection of children, the public interest and the importance of maintaining confidence in the teaching profession.
“The panel considered that the nature of the conviction represents conduct which is fundamentally incompatible with being a registered teacher.
“The panel therefore determined that the respondent’s conduct falls significantly short of the standards expected of a registered teacher and that he is therefore unfit to teach.”
Muirhead targeted the boys between 1989 and 1996, treating them to trips which were described by Suzanne Hutchison, prosecuting, as being like “every little boy’s dreams”.
On the way back from one outing to Leuchars Airshow, the court heard Muirhead stopped in a lay-by, took one of the boys into woods and made him watch while he performed a sex act.
Similar incidents happened with both boys on caravan holidays across Scotland, as well as at Muirhead’s home in Clackmannanshire.
A jury of eight men and seven women took under three hours to find Muirhead, of Jamieson Gardens, Tillicoultry, guilty of five charges two by majority and the other three unanimously.
The older brother, now in his mid-thirties, revealed the abuse to health professionals in 2010, and his younger sibling did likewise soon after.
The court heard that Muirhead told the younger victim that “it was as much my fault as his” and warned him that “if it came out I’d get into more trouble”. He said he had not alerted the authorities because “he was a teacher in a position of trust”.
“It’s the same as Jimmy Savile, where it didn’t come out because he had a big reputation,” he explained in court.
Muirhead’s defence counsel Jamie Gilchrist, QC, asked him: “You are saying he is Stirling’s equivalent to Jimmy Savile. In the Jimmy Savile mode?”
The victim replied: “That is what he is.”
Following the guilty verdict, Sheriff Gilchirst told Muirhead he had breached the trust placed in him.
“You were convicted by a jury of serious offences towards these two boys and this involved a breach of trust placed in you by these boys, and by the wider community as a teacher,” he said.
“A custodial sentence is the only disposal possible. I have to take into account the impact this had on the complainers.”