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| Smith: Cleared In Minutes |
The former award-winning national director of the Scottish Amateur Swimming Association was cleared today of repeatedly sexually abusing an infatuated 14 year-old girl four decades ago.
Hugh Hamilton Smith, 76, of Southbank Court, Easter Park Drive, Cramond, Edinburgh showed no emotion behind the glass-panelled secure dock as the jury announced their unanimous decision after just twenty-five minutes of deliberation, although his 71 year-old wife burst into tears.
He was found not guilty of five counts of indecently assaulting the teenager between August 1, 1973 and May 31, 1975 while the head coach of Beckenham Ladies Swimming Club in south-east London.
Two counts of indecent assault were dropped halfway through the trial.
Judge Peter Gower QC even extended his thanks to the defendant for his conduct during the week-long Croydon Crown Court trial, announcing: "This must have been a particularly painful ordeal."
Smith, - known as 'Hammie' - who was an assistant coach on the Great Britain 1964 Olympic team and went on to coach ten Olympians and thirty internationals described the complaint as "fantasy."
He told the court he was "shocked" at being arrested, swabbed, finger printed, photographed and questioned by police, adding: "If you don't think that's a stressful situation for a seventy-six year-old to be in then I don't know what is."
Smith struggled to find a reason for the allegations and told police that perhaps the loss of the complainant's father a few months before she claimed the abuse began was a trigger.
As a coach and authority figure maybe there was a transfer of affections and when her teenage crush was not reciprocated her feeling "festered" for many years before emerging.
The complainant, now aged 55 years-old, said she was a keen competitive swimmer and trained daily at the now-demolished Beckenham Grove Baths and at the National Sports Centre, Crystal Palace, south-east London under the tutelage of Smith.
However, when questioned at Bromley Police Station on January 28, last year by the borough's Child Abuse Investigation Team the Paisley-native said: "I can't understand why anyone would make these allegations."
The complainant says Smith, who was denied a place on Scotland's 1958 Commonwealth Games swim team after breaking his leg skiing, progressed to groping her in his white Volvo car then engaging in oral sex with her at his home when his wife and two young sons were not around.
He consistently denied the allegations, telling police: "I've never been involved in a sexual context with any young girl or boy in my swimming career.
"She could be disturbed, it's the only logical explanation. I am utterly appalled by these allegations coming at this time."
The complainant told the court during a video interview: "I was so naive, I was in love with him and I thought he was in love with me. I wanted to do what he wanted, I wanted to please him I suppose.
"He was an attractive man, quite charming, with a twinkle in his eye and a nice smile. He was fun.
"He was quite tanned, he had been an international swimmer, I think, and was quite fit and looked strong."
Smith taught PE in Paisley and coached the school's swimmers after graduating and went onto teach in Canada and was invited to become England's first national swimming coach with the English Swimming Association.
He also lectured physical education at what is now the University of Edinburgh, was Scotland's swimming director for ten years and won GB's 'Coach of the Year' in 1975 and in 2002 received a lifetime achievement award from the British Swimming Coaches Association.
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