Scotland social affairs correspondentPublished10 August 2026, 13:47 BSTUpdated 1 minute agoA former PE teacher has been ordered to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work for violent attacks on teenage pupils at a scandal-hit residential school in North Ayrshire.
Michael Neil, 72, locked children in the gym hall and struck them with golf balls at the now-closed Kerelaw in Stevenston between 1991 and 2003.
The ex-footballer, who played for Arbroath and Clyde, carried out so many attacks on pupils that a jury heard he could not even remember them.
At sentencing, Sheriff Eoin McGinty said Neil’s pupils had experienced “fear, humiliation and physical harm” – but he decided against a jail sentence for reasons including Neil’s “advanced years”.
He is the latest former staff member to be convicted of offences at the school and will be supervised for two years.
In 2024, Police Scotland declared a “critical incident” over the scale of its investigation into historical abuse allegations at Kerelaw.
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Neil, from Kilmarnock, was convicted of five offences against pupils aged between 13 and 17.
A jury acquitted him of 11 other charges of assault.
The offences took place at Kerelaw, a List D school near Stevenston that closed amid allegations of abuse in 2006.
List D schools were residential institutions for children and young people who were sent there by courts or social work departments.
One complainer – a man in his late 40s – told the BBC the practice of hitting pupils with equipment was called “human Space Invaders”.
“All the boys would stand at the back of the hall, and I thought we’d be lining up to pick teams [for football],” he said.
“The teacher would come out with a golf club and golf balls. All the boys would start running from side to side and he would then start hitting balls at us.
“I thought, ‘No way, this can’t be happening’. The older boys said that it was normal, it happened all the time.”
He said there was a culture of “fear” at the school during his time there in 1990s.
“You could feel the tension… You always knew something could kick off at any point,” he said.
Det Ch Insp Neil Guy said the teacher had “subjected children, who were supposed to be in his care, to violent assaults to a degree that many feared for their safety whenever they went to school”.
He continued: “I’d like to thank those survivors who came forward to us and reported what happened to them. Their cooperation and assistance has been instrumental in ensuring this conviction.”
Council-run Kerelaw opened in 1970 and was run as a residential unit for boys before becoming co-educational. A mixed sex secure unit was added in 1983.
The site catered for young people with complex behavioural, emotional and psychological needs. The main school closed in 2004 but the secure unit stayed open until 2006.
Police Scotland said Neil was reported to the Crown Office in 2023 following the conviction of two other staff members for violent assaults and sexual abuse across three decades.
In 2024, the force confirmed that Operation Chalk – its inquiry into abuse at school – was declared a “critical incident”, due to the “resources required and the complexity of the investigation”.
It came after 10 people were reported to prosecutors in connection with alleged abuses at Kerelaw.
Sheriff Eoin McGinty said Neil’s offences represented a “great breach” of the trust placed in him as a teacher.
Referring to convictions of other staff members, Sheriff McGinty said: “Yours was a pastoral role at Kerelaw – it was supposed to be a place of safety, instead it was a place of utmost danger.
“These offences occurred many years ago but your victims experienced difficulties that continued into adulthood. The passage of time has not erased your actions.”
Despite Sheriff McGinty stating the seriousness of Neil’s crimes passing the threshold for custody, he decided against jailing him to due his “advanced years”, lack of previous convictions and low risk of re-offending.
He sentenced him to two years’ probation and 300 hours’ unpaid work to be completed within 18 months.
Addressing victims, he added that the conviction would “provide some measure of society’s acknowledgement and disapproval of what was done to you”.
Laura Connor, a senior partner with Thompsons Solicitors who represents a number of people who were victimised at Kerelaw, said it was “deeply regrettable” that there had been no jail sentence for Neil.
She said: “Given the scale and cruelty of the abuse against children perpetrated by Neil it is deeply regrettable that there is no custodial element to his punishment.
“Many children were abused at the Kerelaw and I would encourage anyone who was affected to report this to the police so that we can continue to hold these child abusers and the school to account.”
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