June 2012 Former teacher’s appeal against sex offences sentence rejected A TRAINEE school teacher who ruined his career before it even started when he was jailed for child sex offences lost an appeal against his prison sentence. Simon John Elliott, 44, was jailed for four years at Lewes Crown Court last December after he was convicted of three counts of sexual activity with a child. On Tuesday, three top judges at the Court of Appeal dismissed his challenge to the sentence, saying the four-year term was thoroughly deserved for such serious crimes. The court heard Elliott, of Blackmill Close, Bexhill, had only just started training to be a teacher when he formed an inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old girl. He denied ever having any sexual contact with the girl, but was convicted of the charges. He tried for a cut in the sentence at the Court of Appeal, but saw his case kicked out of court by Sir John Thomas, Mr Justice Collins and Mr Justice Calvert-Smith. “The offences were serious,” said Mr Justice Collins. “The sentence was well within the guidelines and, in the circumstances, there is no reason, in our view, to interfere with the sentence that was imposed.”