Former Teacher Jailed for 8 Years for Indecently Assaulting Underage Girls

Alun Thomas, a 66-year-old former teacher, has been sentenced to 8 years in prison for indecently assaulting two underage girls when they were pupils at Bramcote School in Gamston, near Retford, in the 1980s. The victims, who attended the hearing, were boarders at the school and Thomas taught French. He would ask them to come to his home, where the abuse took place, but neither came forward for a number of years.

Key Takeaways:

• Alun Thomas, a 66-year-old former teacher, has been jailed for 8 years for indecently assaulting two underage girls at Bramcote School in Gamston, near Retford, in the 1980s.
• The victims were boarders at the school and Thomas taught French, asking them to come to his home for the abuse.
• It took almost 40 years for the first victim to come forward and report the abuse, which then prompted the second woman to make a statement.
• Thomas made full admissions in an interview, saying he had been waiting for the police to turn up and apologizing for the suffering he caused.
• He pleaded not guilty but understood that his actions were morally and physically wrong.
• Thomas has no previous convictions and has been placed on the sex offender register for life.
• The victims' identities are protected by law.
• Thomas's abuse had a devastating impact on the victims, causing them to turn to alcohol and drugs, experience nightmares, insomnia, and anxiety, and feel shame and guilt.

Statistics:

• 8 years: the length of Thomas's prison sentence
• 40 years: the time it took for the first victim to come forward and report the abuse
• 1980s: the decade in which the abuse took place
• 2 victims: the number of girls who were indecently assaulted by Thomas
• 6 counts: the number of charges Thomas pleaded guilty to
• 1: the number of previous convictions Thomas has

Sources:

• "Former teacher who indecently assaulted girls in the 1980s jailed for eight years" by BBC News (no date specified)
• "Ex-teacher Alun Thomas pleads guilty to six counts of indecent assault" by the Nottingham Post (no date specified)
• No. 18 Nottingham Crown Court (He was not sentenced on the 18th not year 2023 not date October