Seeing the mugshot of Old Etonian Douglas Clifton Brown following his conviction for attempted murder, transported me straight back to 1986. We were in the same house and the same year at school: Clifton Brown and his friend bullied me regularly, making my life hell. Triggered, I went into the attic and found an old image from my schooldays:
Even in this supposedly formal house photo, the camera shows him elbowing me out of the way. He sports a smug smile and stares straight at the camera, whereas I didn’t dare to acknowledge the photographer.
My house, particularly when I first arrived, suffered from endemic bullying. Young for my year, small and an only-child, I didn’t stand a chance against these predatory abusers. While I never saw myself as a victim, I do think of myself as a survivor of a less enlightened era, albeit one without the provocations offered by online content creators.
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