‘I had no doubts that what he’d done was wrong and awful’

Fiona Rugg’s father, John Smyth QC, was accused of decades-long physical, psychological and spiritual abuse of boys and young men in England and Zimbabwe but died in 2018 before any charges were brought. Justin Welby, former Archbishop of Canterbury, stepped down from his role in 2024 because of accusations from the Makin Report in relation to his knowledge of John Smyth’s abuse. Smyth’s children, PJ, Caroline and Fiona, appeared recently in a Channel 4 documentary See No Evil about their father. Fiona spoke with Jemimah Wright before the release of the documentary

Jemimah Wright (JW): Fiona, you were only five when you moved to Zimbabwe from Winchester. In the documentary there was a picture of you hiding in a basket. You said you wanted to hide a lot. Do you know why?

Fiona Rugg (FR): No, except for the very obvious reason of feeling frightened. I don’t remember any of my childhood without the feeling of fear…wanting to keep out of the way. Dad had a violent temper; you never knew when he was going to fly off the handle. So I think you have an instinct as a child to stay out of harm’s way and hide yourself away from volatility.