Soham teacher jailed over abuse

Robert Howieson: Abused boys "for gratification"

A former chemistry teacher at Soham Village College has been jailed for two years for a series of indecent assaults on two boys in his class.

Robert Howieson, 56, who used to teach at the school where child killer Ian Huntley was caretaker, appeared at Cambridge Crown Court.

He admitted indecent assault of boys aged 12 and 14 between 1975 and 1982.

The judge said he would be put on the sex offenders' register for 10 years and banned from working with children.

The assault on the 12-year-old was carried out in Howieson's chemistry lab.

The teacher assaulted the second boy by hitting him with a belt as punishment for causing trouble in school.

Jailing the married father, trial judge Jonathan Howarth said Howieson had committed an appalling breach of trust by assaulting the boys as a teacher.

"You were in the position to abuse for your own gratification.

Used authority

"It is suggested that what you did was at the lower end of the scale. I disagree, what you did was more subtle than touching and you used your authority as a teacher."

According to a Cambridgeshire Police source the attacks came to light as a result of Operation Fincham - the inquiry into the disappearance and murders of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in August 2002.

Detectives working on the case briefly investigated Howieson before handing the case over to colleagues working in the Family Unit who investigate child abuse cases.

The judge said Howieson would serve half his sentence and remain on licence for the remainder.