Shameful sentences of predatory teachers who escape jail time & profit off crimes do disservice to decent educators

WE send our children to school to learn – of course. But as a mum to two primary school aged boys, nine and six, what I care about more than anything while they are away from me is that they are safe. Bronwen James became the latest teacher to be found guilty of sexual misconduct Credit: X James is currently awaiting sentencing after being found guilty of having sex with the lad, 16 Credit: Simon Jones I have no doubt that mine are, I have faith in every wonderful teacher they have. Which is why it horrifies me all the more when a worrying amount of headlines report that yet another female teacher has been accused of sexual misconduct – often with boys who could have been their sons. Sign up for the Fabulous newsletter Thank you! Women who have gained the trust not only of their students but the parents too and have abused it in the most abhorrent way. Just this week a predatory a PE teacher in Southampton was convicted of sexually abusing a teenage boy, while it was revealed she had also committed sex offences against two girl pupils. Nikki Watkins (seen above) is horrified by the breach of trust of predatory teachers Rebecca Joynes, 32, who groomed one student, aged 15, even went on to have a baby with a 16-year-old pupil in Manchester Credit: Steve Allen Bronwen James, 30, is currently awaiting sentencing after being found guilty of having sex with the lad, 16. And if history is to repeat itself I fear that James will not be dealt the hand she deserves. Aside from the crimes themselves what appalls me most as a mother is shockingly light sentences these women are given. We are yet to see the sentence Bronwen James will be given – but the punishment for female teachers grooming or engaging in sexual misconduct has been strikingly bad. Most read in Fabulous Just last year teacher, Lianne Barclay, 43, bombarded a girl in Warrington, Cheshire with messages such as, “You’re mine” and “Can’t wait for a cuddle.” Her sentence for this misuse of a position of trust: police interviewed the child but decided to take no further action. No action? I’m sure the parents were apoplectic with rage, especially as at the December 2025 Teaching Regulation Agency hearing where Barclay was struck off for life, they heard that the abuse caused the child, ‘a considerable adverse impact to her welfare and her academic studies.’ Eppie Sprung was struck off after being caught in sexual activity with a 17-year-old pupil in her car Credit: John Gunion – The Sun Glasgow She went on to make a career out of her past by writing a children’s book about mistakes they’ve made in the past Credit: Next Chapter Scotland In August, Emily Drury, 26, was found guilty of ‘having sex’ with a 15-year-old boy she was tutoring for his GCSEs and was jailed for four and a half years. The words ‘having sex’ are used in the reporting, but this is not something I see as correct – as it sounds consensual. There is nothing consensual about a person of power grooming, which has the Cambridge Dictionary definition of ‘criminal activity of becoming friends with a child in order to try to persuade the child to have a sexual relationship.’ And four and a half years? Absurd. This boy who remains anonymous, as is the legal way, will likely have this follow him for life and yet the woman who targeted him will be free in a matter of years. To hit home the seriousness of the paedophilic behavior of Drury, at the Lincoln Crown Court trial the victim impact statement from the boy read: “I realised I had been manipulated. I was put into a situation where I was experiencing emotions and situations no child should have to experience.” And this is key, in the current climate there is certainly the whispers of; “Phwoar what teenage lad wouldn’t want to hook up with a hot teacher?” But this vile attitude needs to be stopped. Scientists have found the frontal cortex in the brain – which controls impulse control and decision-making – is still not fully developed until approximately the age of 25. Emily Drury, 26, was found guilty of ‘having sex’ with a 15-year-old boy she was tutoring for his GCSEs Credit: MEN Media Lianne Barclay, 43, bombarded a girl in Warrington, Cheshire with messages Credit: Linkedin But this MUCH older woman, who has had an education to become a teacher, knows right from wrong. The impact of sexual abuse is far reaching: education can be affected, friends abandon them as they find it all too much as they are – let’s remember- very young to be dealing with such a complicated topic. So for a teacher to get minimal jail time- or staggeringly none- is a travesty for something that could be a life sentence for the child involved. And yet the suspended sentences for these heinous crimes just keep on coming. Georgia Lowe, 28, began working as a trainee teacher in Hednesford, Staffs, where she befriended a 15-year-old pupil and sent him pictures of herself in underwear after exchanging emails. She was handed a 14-month suspended jail term – the boy’s mother who found the incriminating evidence must have been crippled with disappointment at this lenient sentence. And another teacher Rebecca Joynes, 32, who groomed one student, aged 15, even went on to have a baby with a 16-year-old pupil in Manchester. She was jailed for six-and-a-half years in July last year, but I imagine her crimes will impact both her child and their father for decades. The pupil is now a dad, while just a child still himself, his poor family must have felt their world had crumbled. And one shamed teacher, Eppie Sprung, now 40, even made a career out of breaching her school’s trust – along with that of the pupils. The former teacher who was struck off after being caught in sexual activity with a 17-year-old pupil in her car, when she was 26, has written a children’s book. After pleading guilty to a breach of trust, Sprung was placed on the sex offenders’ register and given a six-month community payback order, which is a non-custodial sentence used in Scottish criminal law. So again, no jail time. Sprung even moved the pupil in with her, and 13 years after being caught, wrote the book which aims to “help parents talk to their children about choices they’ve made in their past that still impact on their lives today.” This is so shocking it sounds like a punchline: teacher profits from the breach of trust crime she committed by writing about said crime – and then peddles it to kids. The Sun on Sunday revealed in July that UK figures of teachers being kicked out of classrooms is rising. Shockingly 214 teachers were struck off in just 12 months, and among those booted out in 2025/26 were the staff who groomed pupils. This is building on a scary upward trend, as 191 teachers were struck off in the 12 months to April 2025. And it makes you seriously wonder if it’s because these softer sentences are not acting as a deterrent to people who are truly bad. If this is the case, Judges and Magistrates need to address the light sentencing of these terrible people in such a noble profession.