EPISODE · Jun 19, 2025 · 47 MIN
Suppressing a sex abuse secret: Why the voice of rugby stopped talking
from The State of Us · host BBC Sounds
Tara Mills and Declan Harvey talk to international rugby commentator Mark Robson.He has one of the most recognisable voices in rugby broadcasting.To outsiders, he has been living the dream - travelling the world covering a sport he is passionate about.But in reality, he was suppressing a dark and distressing secret.He was abused at Bangor Grammar School by the prolific paedophile Lindsay Brown.The vice principal served two sentences for abusing boys at the County Down school - seven years in 1998 for a catalogue of abuse between 1968 and 1982 and for a further eight months for similar offences in 2021. He died in 2023.For the last 10 years Mark has focused on rugby commentary with SKY, as well as Premier Sport, Eurosport, BT and the ‘World Feed’ with his commentaries going across the globe. In an extraordinarily candid interview, Mark tells Tara and Declan about the moment police arrived on his doorstep to ask him to testify against Brown, and the spiral his life took after that moment. This episode deals with issues around sexual abuse and suicide. For help and support: www.bbc.co.uk/actionline This episode has been edited. Get in touch with questions or comments: [email protected]
What this episode covers
Tara Mills and Declan Harvey talk to international rugby commentator Mark Robson.He has one of the most recognisable voices in rugby broadcasting.To outsiders, he has been living the dream - travelling the world covering a sport he is passionate about.But in reality, he was suppressing a dark and distressing secret.He was abused at Bangor Grammar School by the prolific paedophile Lindsay Brown.The vice principal served two sentences for abusing boys at the County Down school - seven years in 1998 for a catalogue of abuse between 1968 and 1982 and for a further eight months for similar offences in 2021. He died in 2023.For the last 10 years Mark has focused on rugby commentary with SKY, as well as Premier Sport, Eurosport, BT and the ‘World Feed’ with his commentaries going across the globe. In an extraordinarily candid interview, Mark tells Tara and Declan about the moment police arrived on his doorstep to ask him to testify against Brown, and the spiral his life took after that moment. This episode deals with issues around sexual abuse and suicide. For help and support: www.bbc.co.uk/actionline This episode has been edited. Get in touch with questions or comments: [email protected]
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Suppressing a sex abuse secret: Why the voice of rugby stopped talking
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