General Chat

Don,t expect many to agree with me on this one. Forty nine year old woman teacher got 4 years for having sex with a 16 year old child? she was giving one to one lessons. Seems excessive to me. Think the one to one bit makes me more slightly sympathetic towards her - perhaps you can get more drawn to a person on that basis. Happy days

He was 14 at the time, which makes it more serious. 4 years, well, who's to say? Perhaps this is a decent sentence amongst the majority of weak ones.

Didn,t know he was 14 at the time Dan, Said 16 on the news. Still think 4 years is a bit harsh but the point you make is a good one. Happy days

Harry would you still think the same way if it was a 49 year old man with a 14 year old girl

Julie, Thought of that before I posted. I am inclined to be more sympathetic to the woman. Don,t think the boys life has been ruined to the same extent as a girls would have been. Feel that a CSO or a suspended sentence (plus all the disgrace), might have been more appropriate. Happy days

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No I think she got what was coming to her! If it had been a male teacher with a young girl I get the feeling from what I have heard most people would agree it should not happen. So it works the same both ways, well I think so anyway!! School is a place where we take our children to learn about life and how to cope with things, not to experience them at the hands of a teacher!! Betty

1) did teacher consent to having sex? 2) why was the 'lesson' not suppervised? 3) why did it take so long to be reported? 1) if no, why are they being jailed? 2) well it should have been really for the teachers safety (none of my teachers would have given a child a 1-2-1 lesson as there is no wittnesses) 3) well that's anyones guess! If the 'child' had be 16 at the time of the leason then 4 yrs would be to much as they will have leagally done nothing wrong except sleep with one of their pupils - but should still be sentanced to something since the child was only 14, by law it counts as sexual assult / rape of a minor, so 4 yrs is a light sentance - hope they were banned from teaching again to! they should automatical be on the child sex offener register anyway.

Teacher jailed for sex with pupil A married teacher who had sex with one of her teenage pupils has been jailed for four years and three months. Elvira Fairhurst, from Liverpool, began an affair with the boy when he was 14 and had sex with him up to 10 times. She was arrested after a crane driver saw the pair having sex on the top floor of a multi-storey car park while she was on a break from jury service. At Liverpool Crown Court the 49-year-old admitted 11 counts of sexual activity with a child . As well as having sexual intercourse with the boy, Fairhurst, of Meredale Road in Allerton, also performed a sex act on him and touched him indecently, the court heard. The offences happened between January and May 2005. The court was told that the boy, who has behavioural problems, was paid lots of attention by Fairhurst and was given permission to kiss her. This progressed to French kissing and then sexual intercourse in the school stock cupboard, male toilets and a park. The mother-of-two was on a lunch break from jury duty at Liverpool Crown Court when she was spotted by a crane driver on top of the multi-storey car park with the boy. The crane driver contacted police, who arrived at the scene after Fairhurst had returned to Liverpool Crown Court. Children ban When questioned, the boy initially said Fairhurst was his mother but eventually admitted she was his teacher. The officers attended court and had to explain to the judge that they needed to arrest one of his jurors on suspicion of having sex with a minor. John McDermott QC, defending, said: 'She will never be able to explain to anyone just why she embarked on a madcap course of sexual activity with a boy in her charge, but she did.' Judge Henry Globe QC, the Recorder of Liverpool, told Fairhurst she had abused her position. 'You allowed an unhealthy, unprofessional, unlawful sexual relationship to develop and pursued that relationship for your own pleasure in an open and brazen way,' he said. 'You performed sexual acts in semi-public, in a stockroom, in a boys' toilet, in a park and finally at a time when you were performing public service as a juror in this very building, in an open-air car park in full view of a crane driver.' The judge banned her from working with children indefinitely. She was given the same sentence for each of the 11 counts with the sentences will run concurrently.

If he was 14 then she deserves the sentence in my opinion..... she was trusted with the lads education and I presume the parents were paying extra for it!! Don't think the parents would be too pleased to find out they were paying her to provide sex education!!

I agree, she should be punished, .... but the law is an ass. She gets 4 yrs + for this, and yet the man who raped and killed a baby only got 5 years. ..... and I believe he could be out after 1yr with good behaviour and everything else that is taken into account ... I don't understand why there is not more difference between the sentences ... surely he should have been given the death penalty in comparison ? Elaine :-)

It's a very difficult subject in my humble opinion. However it happened, there is a breach of trust which in a teacher-pupil set up is clearly wrong. Is the teacher being punished for this rather than the act itself, cos let's face it, there *has* to be complicity on the part of the juvenile male or it wouldn't have happened. The breach of trust and position is just as serious whatever the gender of the child and it would be very sad if - in this day and age - a boy is seen as less of a victim than a girl. Elaine DD is so right on the subject of comparative sentences and I can't understand why a fraud is seen as so much greater a crime (in terms of sentencing) than child abuse - you only have to look at the 10 year sentence given to the bank manager yesterday.

David, you said 'there has to be complicity' on the boy's part, sorry, I don't believe this, although his body would re-act it is not a sign of consent. Sorry I'm not very good with words, hope you understand what I am trying to say. Besides, he had behavioural problems, she was supposed to be helping him. Tricia

She was in a position of trust, she overstepped this! The boy may have consented but he was 14. A child simple as, she took advantage of him and should be punished accordingly.

I have to agree that I don't think a boy of this age would take an awful lot of persuasion ... (sorry sp) She is still in the wrong and should be punished ... I think her having her job taken away from her and never being allowed to teach again might have been better in comparison ... and maybe a sentence of some sort. Elaine ;-)

I know how I would have reacted when I was 14! Yippee! And then bragged to all my mates!

Thank God you,ve arrived Elaine. Punishment, yes definitely. just think this was over the top. Andy, that,s why I suggested it was different for a boy - very little, if any, damage done. Happy days

Suppose its right that is the law of the land, But it will probaly be most 14 year old schoolboys fantasy as well! Davex

Thats terrible, the man that raped a 12 wk old baby..didn't he get the same? something far wrong. Marion

Exactly Harry. I think a boy of 14 is very different from a girl, less vulnerable and more adventurous sexually, and that should be taken into account. Certainly as a young teenager it was a fantasy for many of us to be seduced by an older woman. However, the woman must have made her position as a teacher untenable, maybe that is a fair punishment?