October 2002 Teacher jailed for assaulting pupils A maths teacher was today jailed for five years for indecently assaulting two pupils. Brian Roberts, 62, of Meadow Drive in Swinton, Rotherham, was sentenced at Doncaster crown court for indecently assaulting the girls in the early 1980s and early 1990s at a South Yorkshire comprehensive school. Judge Linda Sutcliffe said it was important to send out the message to those who found themselves in charge of young girls and abused that position that this kind of behaviour would not be tolerated in a civilised society. She said the nature of Roberts’ conduct towards the girls, calculated, determined and persistent as it was and culminating in such serious acts, was so grave that a substantial custodial sentence had to be passed. She said Roberts’ career had been marked by distinction and that he had been a gifted teacher looked upon with affection by his pupils. “That in a sense makes it even worse what you did to these two complainants because they were in your thrall. They did what you expected of them and they did it over a period of time, and in relation to each of them you progressed from relatively minor instances of indecent assault to an offence which in the case of each of them was a very serious offence of its kind.” At his trial earlier this year at Sheffield crown court the jury heard how Roberts used to walk down the school corridor carrying a large set of keys which he would jangle as a signal for his first victim to leave class and meet him. Roberts would either take her to a nearby stairwell or to a stock room where he would indecently assault her on an almost daily basis. She told the jury that while Roberts had never threatened her he made it clear she was expected to comply with his demands, which left her feeling confused and ashamed. David Brooke, prosecuting, told the court that a decade after he began indecently assaulting the first girl, Roberts turned his attention to another young female pupil whom he indecently assaulted on a number of occasions. He had denied six specimen counts of indecent assault, four against one girl between 1982 and 1986 and two relating to his second victim between 1991 and 1993. The judge told Roberts that it was no coincidence that both the girls were well developed, blonde and pretty when he assaulted them. She said: “The single most important feature of mitigation in cases of this kind is a guilty plea. That was not forthcoming in this case. It exhibits a lack of remorse.” In mitigation the court heard that Roberts was a pillar of support for his family, visiting his elderly and infirm mother and mother-in-law on a daily basis. Outside the court one of his victims said: “The upset and devastation that this caused my family cannot be compared to five years in jail.” The court was told that on release Roberts is to be placed on the sex offenders’ register for the rest of his life.