Former headmaster of prep school attended by Nick Clegg jailed for abusing five young boys

Roland Wright molested the children between 1959 and 1970

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A former headteacher of a school attended by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has been jailed for eight years for abusing five young boys at the school by Amersham Crown Court.

Roland Wright, 83, who taught at Caldicott Boys' Preparatory School in Farnham Royal, Buckinghamshire, assaulted five pupils aged eight to 13 between 1959 and 1970.

He was found guilty of 12 counts of sexual assault by a jury and will be sentenced on 6 February.

His sentencing proceeded despite the death of another former teacher who had been due to be sentenced with him.

His former colleague, Hugh Henry, 82, died after apparently throwing himself under a train on Tuesday.

The body of Henry was found near Amersham Underground station.

The judge heard it had been identified by police. She officially closed the file in Henry's case.

Henry, 82, of Pomeroy Close, Amersham, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of indecency with or towards a child, and two counts of gross indecency with a child.

Another former teacher at the school, John Addrison, 54, from Slough in Berkshire, pleaded guilty to offences of indecent assault and indecency with a child and was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Aylesbury Crown Court in November 2012.

Another man was acquitted by a jury at a re-trial in March last year, after being charged with four counts of indecent assault on a child under 16.

Tom Perry, 60, who was the first Caldicott complainant, in 2001, and a witness in Wright's trial, said afterwards: “I think it sends a very strong message to those people who are abusers of children, that you can get to the age of 83 and get eight years. I'm pleased with the sentence only for that reason.”

The elite boarding school, for children aged 7 to 13, charges annual fees of £20,000 and sends pupils to some of the country’s leading independent schools. As well as Mr Clegg, its alumni include former England cricket captain Andrew Strauss.

Additional reporting by Press Association