December 2009 Shamed: the married teacher “in love” with a pupil A FORMER teacher at a Worcester school has walked free from court despite admitting having a relationship with a pupil. Guy Oxley, who was head of maths at Nunnery Wood High School, passionately kissed a 15-year-old pupil and sent explicit text messages to her. Oxley, who was married at the time, gave the girl a mobile phone which they used to text each other 3,000 times in one month. Some messages professed their ‘love’ for each other. Text messages from him read, “I love you sweetheart”; “I want to be in your bed or you in mine” and “The smell of you is intoxicating”. She wrote to him with messages saying there wasn’t a part of him she didn’t love and “When we kiss time stops dead”. Worcester Crown Court was told yesterday the 40-year-old had been questioned by the school when it became apparent that he had been in a classroom with the girl unsupervised. The school found out the pair had met while out shopping and he had taken her for a coffee when she appeared upset. Simon Phillips, prosecuting, said Oxley’s actions had placed him in a “vulnerable position” due to his position at the school – a role that earned him more than £40,000 a year – and a contract was made between him and the school making it clear it should not happen again. However, headteacher Alun Williams became “concerned” after seeing the pair on CCTV in the corridors and going into classrooms “chatting” for more than two hours after school time. Nothing inappropriate was seen, but the behaviour contradicted the statement made. Later, friends of the girl, who cannot be named, approached a teacher expressing concern about the number of text messages she was receiving throughout the day. The girl’s mother secretly checked her phone and found messages from Oxley. A meeting with the school, police and Worcestershire County Council’s children’s services was held, and Oxley was later arrested. When questioned by police, both Oxley and the girl denied anything sexual happened, claiming they were just friends, but they admitted they had visited the Forest of Dean on two separate occasions. On further questioning he said the text messages were just fantasy but they had kissed on two occasions. Oxley, now of Annsels Road, Worthing, admitted two charges of sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust. Adam Western, in mitigation, said Oxley would never be able to teach children again, and this punishment was greater than any a court could impose. “His reputation is in tatters,” he added. He said Oxley was now working in a Wilkinson’s store in Worthing and was going through a divorce. Judge Amjad Nawaz decided not to impose a community sentence or order him to sign the sex offenders’ register as he was not likely to re-offend. Oxley was instead fined a total of £1,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,000. After the hearing, headteacher Mr Williams said in a statment that teachers knew they were in a position of trust and it was made clear what was expected of them in terms of professional conduct. “Any teacher who fails to meet these expectations has only themselves to blame and must face the consequences,” he said. “This was a very sad case of a teacher failing to live up to the high expectations of the profession, but also a case where the school’s systems working alongside children’s services and the police served their purpose well in identifying and dealing with a serious abuse of a position of trust. “As a school we are totally committed to ensuring the safety of every student in our care, and if such a situation was to arise again we would have no hesitation in taking the strongest possible action – as we did in this case.”