Author behind ‘The Penguin Lessons’ denies sexual abuse claims

Posted On October 10, 2025October 10, 2025

Tom Michell, the author behind the hit novel The Penguin Lessons, has denied historic sexual abuse allegations.

Michell, real name Mike Thompson, published The Penguin Lessons in 2015. It was recently turned into a film starring Steve Coogan and arrived in cinemas earlier this year after premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2024.

According to an investigation by Channel 4 News, the allegations from three men date back to the early 1970s when Thompson, now 73, was a teacher at a boarding school in Dorset.

One accuser, called Richard, claimed Thompson masturbated in front of him on one occasion, and also alleged that his tea was spiked with drugs when he was invited to a yacht with the teacher. He claimed, “I remember being too sleepy to say no or to do anything about it and I remember him saying: ‘I’m going to take your trousers down and inspect you’.”

Another man, named Simon, claimed he was sexually abused by Thompson when he was 11 or 12 in a science block at the school. Simon alleged, “He said: ‘Don’t look at me. Keep your eyes at the front and carry on.’ So I keep talking, and … he’s masturbating me.”

A third accuser, Graham, said that Thompson oversaw group masturbation in dark rooms in the science block “between ten and 20 occasions” and also claimed that “he asked for oral sex”.

Graham made the allegations to the police in 2017, which were said to have been investigated, but no charges were brought against Thompson.

In response to the allegation, Thompson told Channel 4 News: “These deplorable claims are without substance and emphatically denied. A version of [Graham’s] false story was dismissed by the police in 2017. If these individuals were abused 50 years ago, they have my sympathy, but it was not me who was responsible.”

Additionally, publisher Penguin Random House, which published The Penguin Lessons, told the broadcaster, “We are deeply shocked and surprised by these allegations. The book was published in 2015 and this is the first time we have been made aware of them.”

For help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.

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