Wolverhampton teacher jailed for having sex with pupil half his age in secret meetings

Matthew Dawson seduced the 17-year-old after offering to help with an eating disorder, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told yesterday.

A relationship developed and the pair started secretly meeting at his flat to drink alcohol and have sex, said Mr Ian Ball, prosecuting.

The unmarried supply teacher – then aged 34 – started having sex with the girl in January 2014. The affair continued until the following June when it was ended by her after 'fizzling out'.

By then Dawson's teaching contract with the Wolverhampton school had ended and police were not contacted until last year after another girl – who knew about the relationship – complained after learning he was set to start work at her school, the court heard. He was interviewed by officers on January 29 this year and immediately admitted the offence.

Mr Ball said: "The pupil involved had an eating disorder and low self esteem. She was told off for eating soup in a classroom and the defendant took her to a side room to discuss what had happened. He had given her a lot of attention and was trying to help her.

"She then confided in him after a dispute with her boyfriend. They exchanged phone numbers so that they could keep in touch if there were any more problems. The relationship escalated and she saw him after school every day.

"She was going to the flat he shared with his mother, when the mother was out, to have consensual sex. The relationship continued after he stopped teaching at the school and she had had her 18th birthday but it fizzled out in June 2015."

Miss Samantha Powis, defending, said: "The police were involved after a complaint from a pupil at another school believed he was going to work at her school. There was no complaint from the girl with whom he had been involved.

"This was a genuine loving relationship."

Dawson, now 36, from Ferguson Drive, Tipton, pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child by abuse of position and was jailed.