Teacher jailed for indecently assaulting girls

A former teacher was today jailed for three-and-a-half years for indecently assaulting six girls while he privately tutored them in his home.

Denis Grant, 69, showed no emotion as he was sentenced at Belfast Crown Court.

Judge Denise Kennedy said the pensioner had committed a significant breach of trust as the girls, aged between nine and 13, had been placed in his care by their parents.

Before a packed public gallery she told Grant: “Your life is in ruins.

“You have been disgraced.”

The court heard one of his victims now suffers from clinical depression while another has developed psychiatric problems.

Grant, a former Campbell College teacher, was unanimously convicted of two charges of indecent assault last month.

A jury also returned majority guilty verdicts on seven other counts of indecent assault.

All the offences took place in his home in Cabin Hill Park, East Belfast, between April 2003 and October 2004.

Judge Kennedy said Grant had shown no remorse and had forced his victims to relive their experiences in court where they were accused of telling lies.

She told him: “Yours was a clear breach of trust.

“You had a teacher-pupil relationship with each of these girls.

“Their parents entrusted them to your care in the belief that they were safe.

“You abused that trust.”

She also said rather than face up to his crimes, Grant had claimed he was a victim of collusion between parents and their daughters.

Judge Kennedy said she had taken into account that Grant’s offences were not the most serious to have been brought before the courts and that he had no previous convictions.

She also acknowledged that he was an elderly man of good standing in the community and with a lengthy record of public service.

The court was told Grant cares for his invalid wife who is entirely dependent on him.

Judge Kennedy said it was sad and difficult to have to sentence a professional man, but she told him she had no alternative but to impose a custodial term.

A restraining order to prevent the pensioner from working with children was also granted.