Teacher jailed for assaulting pupils with drumsticks and having affair with teen

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A music teacher who assaulted his teenage pupils with drumsticks and had an affair with a 17-year-old has been jailed for his perverted ways.

James Clark, 56, has been found guilty of common assault after hitting or touching his student's backsides with the stick at a boarding school in Scotland.

The Scottish teacher was also convicted of breach of trust by sexual activity with, or directed at, pupils and communicating indecently with a girl.

The father-of-six was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison after sickeningly assaulting a total of seven girls aged between 13 to 18, reports the Daily Mail.

He became a teacher at the Perthshire school in 2012 after he left as chief instructor for pipes and drums in the British Army.

Jurors at Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that he performed a sex act with a 17-year-old girl in a cupboard in the bagpipe store in 2018.

The victim, who is now 20, said the teacher also "abused" her in a number of locations including his car, in the band hut and in the drying room.

She also said he has assaulted her in the "children's tuck cupboard" and had even put his hand up her shirt and underneath her skirt.

Another ex-pupil said she felt "violated" after the ex-army chief frequently hit her on the backside and targeted her during tartan skirt-fitting sessions at school.

One victim, who was 16 at the time, said Clark cornered her at a Christmas concert and told her: "The two of us should have children together."

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The father, who was nicknamed 'Drummie', was also reported to have hit girls on the bottom with a rolled-up register and tell them: "I'm your school dad."

He was also accused to have hugged girls and even went into one students bedroom when she was asleep to kiss her on the forehead.

Sarah Livingstone, defending, told the court he had an "illicit affair" with the girl, but prosecutor Cheryl Clark said she had been groomed.

Clark denied the charges and will never work with children again.

  • Crime
  • Students

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