Victim of paedophile teacher Grahame Brennand sues Lancashire County Council

Paedophile Grahame Brennand, 71, of Calder Avenue, Freckleton, “made a career of being perverted and sadistic” at a primary school in East Lancashire in the 1970s and 80s.

Peter Garsden, a child abuse specialist lawyer representing the woman, who was first molested by Brennand, when she was just 10, is urging others affected to come forward to “have their voices heard in the ongoing battle for justice”.

She and dozens of other children were assaulted by Brennand, while at the primary school in the 1970s.

She went on to suffer from depression and a lifetime of guilt, he said.

Brennand’s sentencing ends her nearly 40-year quest for criminal justice after she first told a teacher in her secondary school and her parents who didn’t believe her.

Mr Garsden said: “This teacher seems to have ruled by fear and abused with impunity for decades.

“The number of ex-pupils who gave evidence against him shows how prolific an offender he actually was.”

He added that he believed there may more other victims who have yet to come forward.

“This has been a long and very traumatic ordeal for those involved,” he said.

“And whilst we welcome today’s verdict – which will no doubt give many of those survivors of abuse some sense of justice and closure – for others, like my client, there are still many unanswered questions with regards why more wasn’t done at the time to protect them.”

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said the abuse also took place at the now defunct Accrington swimming baths.

She said: “This has overshadowed my whole life.

“There is not a day in the last twenty years when I haven’t thought about what he did to me. It’s sickening.”