RETIRED TEACHER CONVICTED OF ABUSING PUPILS
On October 15th, 2025, Patricia Robertson, aged 77, was charged with subjecting young individuals to assault and humiliation while at Fornethy House located in Angus.The allegations covered a period of 15 years, from 1969 to 1984.
During her trial at the High Court in Glasgow, Robertson denied all accusations but was found guilty of 18 counts related to cruel and unnatural treatment of the children.
The court postponed sentencing for her first offence until December, and the judge, Lord Colbeck, granted her bail.
Earlier, in January 2025, the 76-year-old woman faced a trial over alleged historical abuse at a former residential school in Angus.
Patricia Robertson was charged with 26 offences purportedly committed at Fornethy House between 1967 and 1983.
The indictment described numerous instances of "cruel and unnatural" behavior, including physical violence towards the girls.
The case was scheduled for hearing at the High Court in Glasgow, where Robertson’s lawyers entered a plea of not guilty.
Some of the alleged victims were as young as four or five years old.
It was claimed that Robertson was responsible for their care and protection, and among the allegations, a girl was reportedly ridiculed and forced to stand in a dark, confined space for a long time.
Additionally, one girl had a postcard written for her mother torn up before being slapped, and others faced derogatory remarks, forced ingestion of food, and were subjected to being hit with a shoe and a blackboard duster or dragged by the hair.
It was also alleged that Robertson compelled children to sing a degrading song and refused to release a girl from a locked box, shouting at her.
The indictment further claims Robertson caused unnecessary suffering and injuries to the children listed.
She also faces separate assault charges.
A trial has been scheduled to begin in September, with Lord Colbeck presiding.
—————————————————————————————————— UPDATE 03-12-2025 A 'sadistic' teacher who carried out shocking crimes on young girls in residential care has walked free from court.
Patricia Robertson was convicted of a string of offences committed between 1969 and 1984 on girls as young as five.
The 77-year-old would deliver punishments for wetting the bed, force-feed her victims, bang girls’ heads together and drag children by their hair.
Robertson, who was 21 at the time of her first crime, was convicted of cruel and unnatural treatment against 18 victims in October following a trial.
But she avoided a jail term for her crimes and was handed a three-year supervision order on Wednesday (December 3).
The defendant was also made subject to a restriction order meaning she must stay in her home in Witham, Essex, between 3pm until midnight.
She was ordered to pay a total of £18,000 to the victims within the next two months.
Victims who were in court branded Robertson's sentence 'disgusting' and an 'absolute joke' as they sat in the public gallery.
The crimes took place over 15 years at Fornethy House in Kilry, Angus.
The High Court in Glasgow heard how Robertson force-fed a nine-year-old girl, making her vomit, forced her to stand in darkness in a confined space and ridiculed her for wetting the bed.
She tied an 11-year-old girl to a bed and made her take her underwear off so she could be slapped and hit with a wooden implement, while she also destroyed a postcard from her mother.
Robertson seized a child by the neck and forced her to stand against a wall, banged a child’s head against a desk and dragged her by her hair.
She used 'derogatory language' towards an eight-year-old girl, forced a seven-year-old child to sleep in soiled bedding after ridiculing her for bed-wetting and refused to allow another girl, seven, to urinate, causing her to wet herself.
The defendant forced a primary-age child to eat her own vomit after force-feeding her, slapped a child around the face, seized her hair and dragged her by the ears.
She also forced a child aged between eight and 10 to walk despite having injured feet, and restricted her breathing by tightening her clothing and made another child walk across rough terrain wearing only one boot.
Mark Stewart KC, defending, said: "Baxter is now 77, the offences of which she was convicted ran until 1984, then she departed from that school around that time and took up position elsewhere.
"From the report and testimonials she had a fairly positive teaching career." Sentencing, Judge Lord Colbeck said: "Your victims were aged between five to 12, mostly there due to poverty.
"Many on them spoke of excitement at going to Fornethy House.
"Those dreams ended when the door closed.
It is clear you behaved in a sadistic manner to many young girls.
"You ridiculed children when they wet the bed, and force-fed children food, causing them to gag and vomit.
"You were in position of trust and responsibility and abused that." The offending was of 'exceptionally high culpability' and victims had been left with trauma which amounted to 'life sentences', the court heard.
The judge said Robertson, now known as Baxter, had shown 'no insight' into her crimes.
He added: "Your suggestion that the victims made allegations for financial reasons is frankly absurd and contradicts the evidence of a former colleague.
There is no doubt the custodial threshold has been met." Rona Hargan, who spent time at Fornethy between 1976 and 1979 and was one of Robertson’s victims, said the sentence was 'too light'.
She described her time there as 'hell', adding: "It was horrendous and to get three years probation is an absolute joke, I lose faith in the justice system." She branded Robertson an 'evil woman' and said her memories of her time at Fornethy remain with her.
Another victim said: "Robertson’s lack of remorse for hurting me and other helpless girls proves what a wicked woman she is.
"She is a shameful monster and she can’t hide from what she’s done.
"We were abused and bore witness to the violence we suffered.
"Being found guilty proves we have been heard and believed." Thompsons Solicitors is representing around 220 people who say they were affected by their time at Fornethy and are pursuing civil claims.
Laura Connor, a partner at Thompsons Solicitors and head of the Life Impact Team there, said: "The sentencing today was very disappointing.
"There are a lot of angry people around the court today." Faye Cook, of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: "Robertson should have nurtured and supported these children but instead inflicted lasting trauma through her criminal actions.
"Cruel and unnatural treatment is a charge used by prosecutors to capture the dynamics of systematic child abuse over a period of time." "It is now a matter of public record that she grossly violated her duty of care while holding a position of trust and power at Fornethy House.
"This type of abuse has never been acceptable and it should not have happened." Catherine Hammond, senior associate for Digby Brown solicitors, which is also pursuing several civil claims, said: "I would like to commend each person who has spoken, it all helps break the walls of silence which perpetrators rely on to escape punishment." "For many this will not necessarily mean ‘closure’.
Wounds do not end just because court proceedings do.
