Paedo war amputee teacher jailed after groping pupil and making seedy demands - The Mirror

Married former soldier Simon Taylor has been sentenced for grooming and groping a pupil in a move the victim heartbreakingly says 'stole their childhood' forever

An ex-soldier who retrained as a teacher has been sentenced to four years and six months today after 'stealing the childhood' of a pupil he groomed.

Before his fall from grace, Simon Taylor, 43, served in the Afghanistan War and had part of his right leg amputated after his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in 2009. After leaving the forces, he started work as a teacher and began grooming a pupil at Hethersett Academy in Norfolk.

Norwich Crown Court heard how Taylor 'targeted' the student, with the judge saying: "You groomed [them], you manipulated [them], you sent [them] indecent images of your genitalia." The judge said the pupil had "suffered severe psychological harm". He said Taylor sent "messages detailing some of the sexual acts you hoped to perform" on them.

The victim heartbreakingly told how the predator "stole" their childhood and that they never had the chance to be a "normal" teenager. Married dad Taylor admitted to touching the student's thigh at school, touching their chest twice and admitted to two counts of sexual communication with a child while he was in a position of trust.

The victim eventually told Taylor's wife about "what he had done" and also reported it to police. Isobel Ascherson, prosecuting, said the sexual crimes, which spanned more than two years, continued after the student left the school.

She said Taylor made the pupil "think that he was the only one who cared or could help or would help." He would also message the student on the school's messaging platform - which led to him having a written warning - but continued undeterred.

The prosecutor said Taylor, now of Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, 'groomed' the pupil and threatened to harm himself if the they did not send him images. She said that in one message Taylor wrote "I look forward to some fun, as long as we're both looking for fun."

Reading a victim impact statement in court, the pupil said: "My childhood was stolen from me. I never had the chance to be a normal teenager."

Richard English KC, mitigating, said Taylor "accepts he has caused real and great harm". He said Taylor "doesn't seek to blame any of what happened on the injury he sustained" and added that he "received no proper or therapeutic intervention after he was discharged from the Army. It's clear his mental health may have contributed to what happened."

During the trial today (January 13) the Judge told Taylor: "I acknowledge immediately your service to your country and the wider world in the Armed Forces and note with sadness that you were severely injured by an improvised explosive device that ultimately led to the amputation of one of your legs."

But the judge said he could "see no identifiable link between your PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and your decision" to offend. He jailed Taylor for four years and six months, and the defendant showed no reaction as he was led to the cells.

He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register, made subject to a lifelong Sexual Harm Prevention Order and to a restraining order not to contact the victim or their parents or go to their address. He was also told he would be barred from working with children.