DISGRACED TEACHERS BEHIND BARS

We take a look at the female teachers risking it all for relationships with their pupils

- JOHANNA BELL

Inappropriate teacher-pupil relationships have always made for scandalous soap storylines, but what happens when fiction becomes a reality? Schools are meant to be a safe space, so teachers are the last people parents expect to prey on their children. Recently, former Fareham teacher Nicholas Brooks was jailed for offences that took place between 2008 and 2011, after his victim approached police in 2020. And the affairs of female teachers have also been making the headlines.

The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000, which came into force in January 2001, made it illegal for a teacher to have sexual relations with any pupil under the age of 18, even if the relationship is consensual.

It can be a difficult crime to uncover – pupils often don’t understand they are victims and so the offence goes unreported. But when it is, teachers risk their careers, jail time and even life on

Woman’s Own investigates why women are risking so much to cross the line…

'CALLOUS AND SELFISH'

Kandice Barber, now 38, lay on a bed surrounded by sex toys and took a photo of herself to send to her lover.

But the mother of three wasn't flirting with another adult. The recipient of the photo was a 15-year-old at the school where she was a supply teacher.

She'd added the pupil on Snapchat after spotting him at a school sports day. She'd bombarded him with flirty messages, before having sex with him in a field in October 2018. She then told the teen to delete all her messages and block her on Snapchat.