Was anyone taught recorder by BRIAN DAVEY in London or the South East in the Seventies or Eighties?

[shockedandstunned]

\link{http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/4794250.stm\Read this}

I'm completely horrified - those poor poor girls

its shaken me too, to think i warned my daughter against stranger danger and all the while a paedophile was teaching her recorder, it makes me shudder.

he taught recorder at my primary school. It says offences were commited up to 1987..... I was 7 then

I've just asked my mum if he taught me and she says she can't remember

SAS you are right about the "stranger danger" but something like 90% of abusers are known to or related to their victims. That figure may actually even be higher.
As a victim of abuse I struggle to know what we should tell our kids to look out for. (ds is only 22 mo so a little young yet). I think my experience has made me intensely paranoid of the intentions of others.

Hi. Don't know if I am doing this correctly, and hope this being sent to the correct people, and still hope that you guys are on this site and check regularly. I was one of his victims for many years. He was a very close friend of the family, my teacher, and someone I did not escape from until I was 15 / 16, which was for the first time when I was brave enough to tell someone. I did all the stuff too mentioned in the discussion. Trips abroad, Royal Albert Hall etc. Have gone through much counselling, and finally find myself in an good place. However, you know what it is like sometimes. The slightest vaguest thing that is a reminder can set you off. The story line in a film or Drama, the news, and being a teacher myself, knowing that I have to undergo our 'safe guarding' training shortly is enough to get you going! Don't get me wrong, this training is brilliant, and the ethos behind it - i.e. PREVENTION, however, sitting through it is very painful. After doing it once, not sure how long I will last.
Due to these factors, I got on the internet to see if there was any update on Brian's situation i.e. any news of possible release etc. He was sentenced to 13 years, but I was informed by my police officer / detective he would only serve half. Thankfully, I am a year ahead of myself and have at least another years grace before I start thinking about that one. However, what I was shocked at that his books are still being sold!! When I realised this was happening in my area, I went around to every book shop to ensure they were off the shelves, went to the local press and emailed every school in the area. I have not come across this books being used in this area now - or my knowledge at least. It disgusts me that he is still making some form of living whilst being punished. Many people argue that it is just a book, and a good book at that. This cannot be denied, however, I know that the reason this book was written and published. It is targeted towards very young children (and was way ahead of its time in the 70/80's!!!) It was these young children he abused, and a way he could access them. To my horror, there are still many companies that are still publishing his books. When I come across them, I make a point of emailing them, again making them aware of this situation, but without any real joy. What do you guys think? Even his own private publishing business is selling them, with an email address on the site (Ruth). This will be by next email this afternoon. How would you guys, as parents, feel about supporting me in a bit of email bombardment?

Hi another YRPL person here, I found out about this years ago and was shocked to the core. I also did all the concerts, trips abroad etc and had no idea. I do remember his step-daughter being very unhappy and it makes me very sad now that I know why she was. She was so talented aswell.

The books were all part of his "grooming" and there is no way they should be used in schools now. The are dedictated to his daughers children. They are excellent books and he was a talented man gone very very wrong.

I heard his daughter speak on Radio 4 woman's hour and cried the whole time. She was amazing. Very sad all round.

I was a member of YRPL too and I was also abused by BD. I didn't find out about all the others until my mum told me in passing that he had gone to jail - she knows the bass player who used to play with the group and he told her. It was a massive thing for me to find out - I didn't know it had happened to anybody else and I kept it quiet for years and years and thought I was the only one and I was a bad person. I went to the police and gave statements, but his solicitor eventually felt that it was not in the public interest to prosecute as what he did to others was worse than what he did to me. The last I heard he was refusing to speak to his solicitor, but this was about 5 years ago, and I have no idea what is happening now and even if he is still in prison. Does anybody know? I felt awful because he was coaching children's recorder groups for days as a guest at the local university and I couldn't say anything - you can't just walk in and accuse somebody of being a paedophile! I have worked with Rape Crisis and would urge others to do the same - I'm by no means comfortable with what happened, but I can at least say I am a survivor. I am a teacher myself now, and having had this experience (and I would not wish it on anybody, ever) it means that my radar is extra sensitive to abuse in the kids I teach and now I can step in and hopefully stop it happening to another child. I wonder how many of us there are out there - I was part of the Beaconsfield group and knew Antoinette, did all the concerts, Royal Festival Hall, QE Hall, Music For Youth, Hexagon theatre in Reading, the tour to Holland. If you were abused by this man, have courage - it wasn't OK to tell then, but it is now, and it doesn't matter how old you are (I'm 40) or how insignificant you might feel it was compared to others - it wasn't wanted and it wasn't allowed. Poppyhattie

I know I'm late to this ... by some years! But my experience was exactly the same. I played in the Younger Recorder Players of London (based at the London section), had private lessons with Brian, went to Yugoslavia and played at the Schools Proms (and the Elizabeth Hall?). It was a major part of my teens and I'm sure we must have been there together. I remember Brian getting married to one of the mothers in Beaconsfield and gaining the step-daughter who played with us. I did always feel he was closer to an inner-circle and I felt left out and jealous at times. But when I heard years later what he was I was relieved and so upset for those who groomed and abused - all girls I will have known well at the time and who never mentioned a word. I've never played his music since. And know his step-daughter tried to have it removed from sale as I heard her years ago on the radio. @shockedandstunned My question is, I suppose, whether his actions mean that all we experienced in that group is invalid and wrong? I learnt discipline, how to work with a conductor, how to play different sorts of music, etc. I still play very regularly. But he is often on my mind. I do hope you are doing well.

@poppyhattie I will have known you and been there. But I can say that no one had no idea what was going on. He must have created such a culture of fear. I did not experience abuse from him, just a little odd manipulation which I didn't understand as power-abuse until many years later. I'm so sorry for what you and others experienced . I have no idea what I would/could have done as I was 12-15 years at the time. I do hope you continue to get the support you need. And he gets the punishment he deserves.

@gremlindolphin I heard that interview too. It was very thought provoking given how much of his music we used to play at YRPL. Not played any since I learnt what he did. I do hope his step-daughter is doing OK. What a tragedy her mother ever met him.

@Djundjun I think it is interesting whether your 'art' is invalid if you turn out to be so disgusting. I think maybe historically after many years things can be enjoyed - eg Eric Gill? But he is alive and the people he damaged are alive. And he should not benefit from anything he did to groom girls. Good luck. I know his step-daughter agrees. I'm sorry those of us in the YRPL didn't know what was happening to others and couldn't help stop it. I hope you are well and getting the support you need.

I do hope his step-daughter is doing ok

His step daughter is a teacher at the school my DC attended. She is very well liked by the pupils. She has a lovely husband and kids. I've heard her talking on what happened to her and she seems like an amazing person.

@EmmaGrundyForPM The resilience of some people amazes me. Thank you for the hopeful update.

Hi,
Does anyone know if Brian davey is still in prison? I may have information on abuse that was a lot later than the others (90s) that he went to jail for so wondering if it’s worth digging it up to get him back in jail or if he’s still there? Or even alive? Thanks for any info.

I've just come back to this thread so many years after I first posted as I've just read a chapter in a book ("Creatures of Passage" - Morowa Yejide) where a child is groomed and it describes the light and soul being taken from their eyes. Everything that he did - I completely agree with a previous poster - it is waiting to ambush you every day in so, so many ways (a name, a piece of music, a tv show, a newspaper article, the smell of a male deodorant, child protection training, photos of me as a child, the programmes from the concerts we did that turned up in my parents' loft, a car - remember the number plate
DAV3Y? Etc. Etc.) However, I don't let it invalidate my musical experiences - I learned so much - new music (to me anyway - I still love "Don't Bring Lulu" and "Plink Plank Plonk") how to arrange big band music (I've run several big bands over the years), how to watch a conductor, how to solo, playing with a great jazz trio (piano, bass, drums), sound engineering and recording. Yes, it's all tainted, but it's complicated too - if there were good times and great experiences, then enjoy them, don't feel guilty - that's to anybody taught by him. One flashback for me and I've never answered the question is how did nobody notice what was happening to me, in public, on the coach to and from London? Maybe they did and ignored it or maybe they didn't understand it or maybe we were too young and wouldn't have known what to say or do - even as an adult it would have been an impossible situation to step into. So there is no blame - I think that what I'm trying to figure out is how brazen and "untouchable" he must have been to have done it...

I heard about this quite a long time ago and had a sudden urge to see if he was still alive, given that he was 67 when he was convicted. I wonder if I know any of you - I was also in YRPL and went to Germany and Yugoslavia with the group. Also rehearsed at the White Lion Youth Centre and played solo at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (Nevertheless). Still have so much of his sheet music, which I used when I took up the flute recently. I had no idea he was suspended from Butlers Court (I was a pupil there) but I wonder now if my parents (both dead) did? It seems like rumours abounded - why on earth was he allowed to keep teaching?

I also remember him giving lessons at St Mary's School, and knew David and Janet Grey in the Old Town - she was also a music teacher and his sister who had no knowledge of what he was doing. I wasn't part of the abuse however, and it's so shocking. And while we all thought he was very creepy, I had no knowledge of anything going on on those coaches from Beaconsfield to London. I guess I was with the group from the age of 9 or so - I think we went to Germany when I was about 10 and then Yugoslavia a couple of years later. By 1987, I was in Manchester at college and didn't find out about it until a long time later, maybe 2008 or so.

I didn't go to Germany but I was at Elizabeth Hall and Yugoslavia. And Albert Hall. Had private lessons and rehearsals at White Lion Street. I agree he was creepy and had a weird 'inner circle'. Had zero idea what was really going on. He was horrible to me when I left at 16. Like I had betrayed him. I'm so sorry for the children harmed. (Ps did you used to do the Rubik's cube very fast?)

I didn't 🤣 I could only ever do one side of the Rubik's Cube - I never mastered it. I'm Kate and I wore horrid National Health glasses. I hated approaching him - he'd call you 'sausage' and try and cuddle you. I remember the two older people though - the soloist who I won't name and the girl with the auburn hair whose name I can't remember. They were about 17 I'm sure and kept themselves to themselves. Maybe they were more aware. But it does seem like people either knew, or had their suspicions, and still he was allowed to go back to the family home and carry on teaching 🙁