Chloe Hadjimatheou

For our lot, it was all about going to gigs. Susie and the Banshees, The Cure, and some pretty dire stuff too, like Fields of the Nephilim. That still makes me cringe. It was easy for teenagers back then because tickets were affordable, only around a tenner. And in venues that seemed so edgy and happening, like the Town and Country Club and the Camden Palace, most of them years gone now.

Local places, pretty close to home, which for us back then was a little patch of North London, specifically Finchley. But I digress. Since those teenage days, I've ended up becoming an investigative journalist and Mark's an actor. But we're still close friends. I've asked Mark to come to the studio at Tortoise because of something that happened to him a while ago. So basically, tell me...

Local places, pretty close to home, which for us back then was a little patch of North London, specifically Finchley. But I digress. Since those teenage days, I've ended up becoming an investigative journalist and Mark's an actor. But we're still close friends. I've asked Mark to come to the studio at Tortoise because of something that happened to him a while ago. So basically, tell me...

How this all started?

How this all started?

She tells Mark he was in the same year as her husband, at Christ's College Finchley, a boys' comprehensive school that had a pretty good reputation. I was at the girls' school just up the road. This woman asks if Mark remembers her husband, Gareth. Actually, that's not his real name. I can't tell you that for reasons that will become clear pretty soon.

She tells Mark he was in the same year as her husband, at Christ's College Finchley, a boys' comprehensive school that had a pretty good reputation. I was at the girls' school just up the road. This woman asks if Mark remembers her husband, Gareth. Actually, that's not his real name. I can't tell you that for reasons that will become clear pretty soon.

The rumours were about what happened between this guy Gareth and a teacher at the school. His wife is calling Mark because Gareth needs witnesses and he remembers Mark because they were both misfits.

The rumours were about what happened between this guy Gareth and a teacher at the school. His wife is calling Mark because Gareth needs witnesses and he remembers Mark because they were both misfits.

And because Gareth remembers Mark suffered at the school, just like he did, he thinks Mark might be more likely to help him out. Mark and Gareth end up having several long conversations, sometimes late into the night. Rewinding to the 1980s and playing out their school days. Who had a fight with who? The fact that caning was still allowed in their first few years.

And because Gareth remembers Mark suffered at the school, just like he did, he thinks Mark might be more likely to help him out. Mark and Gareth end up having several long conversations, sometimes late into the night. Rewinding to the 1980s and playing out their school days. Who had a fight with who? The fact that caning was still allowed in their first few years.

Which teachers would use it and which would just throw books at you or clip you round the ear. About the hours after school spent sitting on buses smoking cigarettes... Or hanging around Golders Green station trying to look cool and get the attention of girls. Memories of that sweet time in the early years when they were still blank slates.

Which teachers would use it and which would just throw books at you or clip you round the ear. About the hours after school spent sitting on buses smoking cigarettes... Or hanging around Golders Green station trying to look cool and get the attention of girls. Memories of that sweet time in the early years when they were still blank slates.

And then they talk about the real reason they were having this call. What happened between Gareth and this teacher at Christ's College.

And then they talk about the real reason they were having this call. What happened between Gareth and this teacher at Christ's College.

The first time Mark tells me about all this, that this former classmate of his, Gareth, had called him out the blue to talk about how he'd been sexually abused by his teacher at the age of 14. I have to admit, I immediately jumped to what I thought was a pretty obvious conclusion, that the teacher carrying out the abuse had been a man. It's an easy assumption to make.

The first time Mark tells me about all this, that this former classmate of his, Gareth, had called him out the blue to talk about how he'd been sexually abused by his teacher at the age of 14. I have to admit, I immediately jumped to what I thought was a pretty obvious conclusion, that the teacher carrying out the abuse had been a man. It's an easy assumption to make.

Most abusers tend to be male. And recently I've been hearing more and more of these cases about boys being abused in boarding schools and churches. But this is not that story. Because in this case, the abuser was a woman.

Most abusers tend to be male. And recently I've been hearing more and more of these cases about boys being abused in boarding schools and churches. But this is not that story. Because in this case, the abuser was a woman.

So the sort of, the implication was... It was his fantasy and he got to fulfil his fantasy. Yeah. What's he complaining about?