Schoolgirl ‘raped in back of van by her teacher after grooming her’

A schoolgirl was allegedly raped by her PE teacher in the back of his van after he asked her out on a date nearly 40 years ago, a court heard yesterday.

The alleged victim, now in her mid 50s, was aged 14 or 15 when the teacher took advantage of low self esteem and poor confidence to groom her, the prosecution claimed.

The now 62-year-old man went on trial at Luton Crown Court yesterday, where he pleaded not guilty to a single charge of raping the then teenager between March 1976 and March 1978.

The woman told the jury of seven men and five women she was attending a secondary school in Luton, Beds, and living with her parents at the time of the alleged assault.

The jury heard the defendant, who was then in his 20s, would see the girl during her lunch hour at the school and pay her compliments about how nice she looked.

In the witness box, the alleged victim told the court: “He was very affectionate, very tactile and he would tell me I was special.”

She said because of her unhappy home life, she felt “flattered” by his attention.

The woman then told the jury how one day at school the defendant asked her if she would like to go on a date with him.

She said she felt “flattered” and agreed to meet him in the car park of the Heron Pub in Luton, where he told her he would park his van.

The complainant said it was a “school night” and, after her evening meal, she walked to the pub from her home and, as she reached the car park, he came out from the bar.

She told the court she got in the passenger seat and he then drove for 15 to 20 minutes to a wooded area.

“I think I had started out excited, but I was a bit nervous because it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be,” she told the court, adding that she had thought there might be “flowers or chocolates” and they might go for a drink or meal.

She said the teacher began to kiss and touch her and then told her: “Let’s get out of the van and get more comfortable.”

Outside the van she said he leaned her against the side of the vehicle pressing his own body against her so that she couldn’t move.

“He said we should get more comfortable and he slid the side door of the van across,” she told the court.

In the back of the van she said there was a mattress spread out over the floor and she said the teacher told her to get in.

“I was starting to get scared and I remember saying I don’t think I want this. He stroked my face and said it’s okay, it’s what you want. He started kissing me and laid me down” she added.

The woman went on: “I was frozen with fear. I was rigid and gripping the mattress with both hands. There was a condom beside the mattress. He opened it and put it on.”

She said he then pulled down her underwear and tights and had sex with her, which hurt her.

Asked by prosecutor Michael Shaw if she’d had sex before, she replied “No, I was a virgin.”

After he had finished she said he told her that what had happened was to be their “secret.”

But, she said, from then on he paid her no more attention at school.

She said because of her unhappy home life she was unable to tell her parents what had happened and shortly afterwards deliberately cut her wrists with a safety pin.

The court was told it wasn’t until 2011 that she spoke about what had happened and in 2013 made a statement to Bedfordshire Police.

The defendant, who now lives in Lincolnshire, was arrested and eventually charged, which he denies.

The case continues…

UK Mirror