A former teacher at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama has been sentenced to 11 years in jail for raping and sexually assaulting young girls. This comes 30 years after a complaint was made by a student who claimed she had been attacked by the teacher and the school advised her to find a different place to study. Internationally renowned, Philip Pickett, 64, lured female students into soundproof practice rooms before abusing them. He was found guilty on two counts of rape and two counts of indecent assault, which took place between 1977 and 1984 at the school. Police believe other students may have been victims of these attacks as well and are urging them to come forward.
The prestigious school is now in the spotlight in regard to how they handled the allegations. A 16-year-old victim who came to the school in 1978 said Pickett asked her to take her shirt off during his lesson, suggesting the request was made to help her work on her breathing. He ordered her on the floor and then assaulted her. At her following lesson a week later, he raped her.
Pickett's case had been postponed last year so he could finish his U.K. tour with Carlos Núñez and the New London Consort, which the teacher founded, before standing trial. In his latest trial, he was found guilty of attacks against two more young women, whose stories followed the same pattern. He was found not guilty of six further counts.
Pickett left his position at Guildhall in 1997 and became the successful artistic director of the Southbank Centre and director of early music at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
According to The Independent, Judge Charles Wide, jailing Pickett at a hearing earlier this month, called Pickett’s actions a “gross abuse of trust” and that the victims were “in awe of” their teacher who had targeted girls “most unlikely to complain.”
