Boy gets life for raping teacher

The teacher was only on her second day of teaching at the boys' school

A schoolboy who raped a teacher at a central London school has been given a life sentence in detention.

The powerfully-built boy, who attended Westminster City School for Boys but cannot be named, had admitted rape.

The 15-year-old, now 16, head-butted and threatened to kill the woman, 28, during the assault in September 2004.

The judge told him he had violated the teacher's classroom, her place of safety, and had left her "physically and mentally scarred".

The youth was told he would be detained during Her Majesty's Pleasure.

This was a truly dreadful crime Judge Christopher Moss

He will be eligible for parole after serving four-and-a-half years - but will not be released until doctors consider he is no longer a danger.

Passing sentence, Judge Christopher Moss said: "This was a truly dreadful crime.

"You subjected your victim to the terror of a physical, sexually degrading and humiliating attack in her own classroom.

"She said she considered her classroom her safe zone. You violated her place of safety."

Teacher struggled

Brendan Kelly, prosecuting, told the court the youth was arrested the day after the rape.

He said the youth ripped the teacher's shirt and bit her. He then pulled off her trousers but she managed to hit him in the groin with her shin.

I honestly thought that I was going to be murdered, on top of everything else Rape victim 'Rape pupil needs help'

The teacher then continued to fight him off. "The more she resisted, the more he continued to attack her," Mr Kelly said.

Following the attack the teacher ran naked to the head teacher's office.

The teacher, who was only on her second day of teaching at the school, said she was "glad" that the youth will be locked up for a long time.

"I was very glad to be alive because I did not think I would be," she said after the case.

"I honestly thought that I was going to be murdered, on top of everything else."

She said incarceration was not enough for the youth and that he needed help and treatment.

"Had he received that help and treatment at an earlier stage, maybe I would not have suffered at his hands," she said.

Jeremy Dein, QC, defending, said the teenager had come from an "emotionally fraught" family background and had been bullied at school and suffered from a misconduct disorder.

'Extremely unusual'

Det Ch Insp Andy Rowell said: "This sentence was a true reflection of the appalling nature of this crime.

"It was made all the worse by the fact that it happened in the classroom, at this person's [the teacher's] place of work."

He said the victim was going through a "substantial period of rehabilitation" but was making good progress.

In a joint statement, Westminster City Council and the Westminster City School, said: "Although abhorrent, this particular case is an extremely unusual incident that has been dealt with by the court."

It said teaching staff, support staff and pupils are being offered counselling and guidance and that the school hopes to move forward from "this dreadful but isolated incident".

Judge Moss lifted the court order protecting the youth's identity but stayed this until Friday afternoon after the defence said it wanted the decision reviewed by the High Court.