JOHN WHITE, RETIRED TEACHER FROM BRISTOL AND WICK, JAILED FOR CHILD GROOMING AND ABUSE

In a case that has spanned decades, the dark history of John White, a retired music teacher from Bristol and Wick, has finally come to light through a court conviction. White, aged 81 at the time of sentencing, was found guilty of indecent assault against a young girl during his tenure at a Bristol school in the mid-1980s. Despite having taken early retirement and believing he had escaped justice, his past actions resurfaced when his victim reported the abuse to police in November 2012.

Initially, White denied the allegations, attempting to dismiss the claims. However, as the case progressed to court, he ultimately admitted to the misconduct. The court heard that White, who resided on Church Road in Wick, pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting the girl between January 1985 and April 1986, when she was approximately 12 or 13 years old. Due to the limitations of the law at that time, the court could only impose a maximum sentence of two years, as the victim's exact age could not be definitively established.

Judge Euan Ambrose addressed White directly, stating, “Her statement provides ample material on how your behaviour has affected her and those effects have lasted a long time.” The judge emphasized the lasting impact of White’s actions on the victim’s life. As part of his sentence, White was ordered to register as a sex offender for a period of ten years and was prohibited from working with vulnerable adults and children in the future.

Prosecutor Kenneth Bell detailed the nature of White’s inappropriate conduct while teaching at a mixed-sex school in Bristol. He described how White would often drop items on the floor, bend down to pick them up, and on occasion, would touch the girl’s leg, seemingly taking advantage of moments when he could look up her skirt. The court was told that the girl was frequently asked to stay after class to clean the blackboard, during which White would brush past her and make deliberate, slow touches.

One particularly distressing incident involved White groping the girl as she was leaving his classroom. Mr. Bell recounted, “He put his hand up her skirt and touched her on the outside of her knickers. She felt scared. She carried on walking, she didn’t say anything because she didn’t think anybody would believe her.” The girl confided that she reported the incident to the school’s head teacher in April 1986. Following her report, the head teacher interviewed White and informed the local authority about the allegations.

It was revealed that White had taken early retirement in July 1986, shortly after the incident. The prosecution highlighted that concerns about White’s inappropriate behaviour towards girls had been raised previously in other schools, leading to his transfer to a boys’ school before being moved back to a mixed school. White’s retirement appeared to be a strategic move, unbeknownst to the victim at the time.

The victim, now an adult, provided a personal statement describing the profound and lasting effects of the abuse. She expressed feelings of being labeled as a trouble-maker and abandoned, as White “vanished” from her life without explanation or apology. She described how the trauma had impacted her mental health, leading to issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, an eating disorder, and agoraphobia. She also revealed that she had turned to heavy drinking over the years.

White’s defence attorney, Mary Cowe, outlined his health issues, including paralysis on one side following a stroke, a heart condition, infected leg wounds with MRSA, and recent assessments for dementia. She argued that the court process itself had taken a toll on White’s health and suggested that if the sentence were suspended, it would still serve as a meaningful consequence given his shame and the stigma attached to his actions. The court’s decision reflects the gravity of the offences committed by John White, a man whose actions have left a lasting scar on his victim’s life.