'Shy and quiet' child gymnast turned into sex predator teacher who exploited two schoolboys

A "SEXUAL predator" teacher was warned yesterday she faces jail for grooming two 15-year-old schoolboys, before having sex with them.

- Chris Riches

Rebecca Joynes, 30, was already suspended from her high school job and on bail for sexual activity with Boy A, 15, when she took the virginity of second teen Boy B, who she later became pregnant by.

She did not deny having a baby daughter with Boy B, but told Manchester Crown Court they only slept together after he left school and she had been dismissed from her teaching role.

But a jury found her guilty of six counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, including two while being a person in a position of trust.

The verdict marked a transformation from a "shy and quiet" girl, who was a champion gymnast at 12 and later a member of her university cheer-leading team, to a sexual predator who targeted her pupils.

And adjourning her sentencing until July 4, Judge Kate Cornell warned that jail was a strong possibility, adding: "There's a baby in this case who has done nothing wrong and is entirely innocent of all wrongdoing.

"You will obviously want to see her before the sentence is passed, I do understand that. But you must be under no illusion what's going to happen on the fourth of July."

The court heard petite, softly-spo-ken Joynes had joined the high school - which cannot be identified for legal reasons in 2018, as part of the Teach First teacher recruitment scheme after studying for a sports and exercise science degree.

She said she had undergone a messy break-up after the end of a nine-year relationship, struggled during the pandemic and was lonely when she became "flattered" by the attention of teenage schoolboys.

Joynes was referred to as "Bunda Becky" by the boys - Bunda being slang for a woman's bottom.

Some of the teens made inappropriate comments to her.