Alleged victims of former Wolverhampton headteacher: 'I can still smell that man to this very day'

"There was always heavy discipline which resulted in slippers, caning. The standard stuff."

Behind the 57-year-old's affable demeanour is a torturous and horrifying past.

"Invariably as we got older it got more severe: trousers around ankles and this went on behind closed doors in his office. He was a very tactile man. I can smell him to this day. He was very clean," he said.

Mr Shelton accuses formal Tettenhall College lower school headmaster Colin Cope, now 83, of sexually assaulting him while he was a pupil.

Along with four other alleged victims, Mr Shelton was denied the chance to tell his story to a jury when the trial against Cope was stopped by Judge Robin Onions at Shrewsbury Crown Court in October 2009.

Judge Onions ruled the defendant, who was charged with 11 sexual offences against children, could not receive a fair trial because physical and mental health problems meant that he did not know 'what was going on' and would be unable to defend himself.

But video footage from eight months later, showing him telling jokes and reciting poetry while giving a public talk at a church in Dorset is now being reviewed by West Midlands Police.

In the video, first revealed by The Times, he is also seen driving his car, carrying a table and climbing steep stairs while giving paying visitors a guided tour of his 18th-century National Trust home.

Mr Shelton, who lives in Shifnal, has waived his right to anonymity to speak out about the case and urge other potential victims to come forward.

Also speaking publicly is Andrew Wood, 56, of Hereford, who went to Tettenhall College between 1969 and 1977.

He first told his parents of the alleged abuse in 2004 after the breakdown of a relationship.

"I fell to pieces and was weepy all the time. I got drunk and it came out. I swear that it finished my father, he died three years later. He blamed himself. He said 'I have lost you 40 years of your life'. Persuading him it was not his fault never got through to him."

Following the new video footage emerging, they are urging other possible victims to come forward.

They welcome the review by West Midlands Police and are seeking closure after more than 40 years.

Mr Shelton said: "We poured our heart out and then to be told there was no case to answer and the case is stayed, I am thinking, 'this ain't right' and to this day I feel very emotional. I am still struggling." Mr Wood said: "It gets harder. This should have gone. We have never had any closure. It does affect your life and the way you function. But this has made us more determined. The college could have admitted to our parents that they ruined our lives." Mr Cope left the school in 1973 to go and teach in Dorset.

His sudden move is described by a former colleague and pupil Geoff Hopkinson.

"He left rather quickly," said the 70-year-old who was taught by Cope at the school between 1957 and 1962 and became a teacher there between 1968 and 1974.

"One moment he was there and one moment he was not. It was odd.

"There was no leaving parties like you would expect for someone who was as popular as Colin."

Tettenhall College settled out of the civil courts with Mr Shelton, Mr Wood and three other former pupils who were paid £129,000 by the boarding school, including legal fees. They were paid varying amounts from £5,000 to £60,000.

Mr Cope was 78 at the time the prosecution was stopped.

He is now 83, married with two children.

Court papers seen by The Times, reveal that police officers who first arrested Mr Cope in 2006 were 'deeply concerned' about Judge Onions' decision to block the prosecution.

In addition to evidence from five alleged victims, there were witness statements from another four ex-pupils and a former teacher at the school.

Mr Cope denied any wrongdoing. The alleged victims came forward independently in 2006 and 2007 to say that they had been abused by him as children. Detailed statements were given to the police.

The trial was terminated with Mr Cope's defence listing a string of health issues including heart disease, prostate cancer, type 2 diabetes, clinical depression and multiple anxiety-related symptoms.

Tettenhall College stresses that the allegations took place more than 40 years ago and recent school inspections have rated its child protection measures as good. The Crown Prosecution Service said it would give 'careful considering' to the video footage if the matter is passed to them following a police investigation."