HMO Landlord Fined For Bedsit Breaches

A landlord who rented an undersized bedsit room and blocked a potential fire escape with a piano was fined £8,000 today.

Research scientist Efstathios Theodoridis, 55, appealed the decision when blocked by the council from renting the tiny room, but continued regardless when he lost.

Southwark Council inspectors checked standards at the four-bedsit house of multiple occupation (HMO) in Langdon Way, Bermondsey on October 21, last year and also found the fire alarm system was sub-standard.

Greek-born Theodoridis, an immunobiology specialist at Guy's Hospital, Southwark says he has spent £18,000 to rectify the issues raised by the inspectors.

He currently has three occupants at the property with only one paying rent and the other two facing eviction proceedings.

Theodoridis, of South Terrace, Surbiton, Kingston-upon-Thames appeared at Croydon Magistrates Court, where he was fined £2,000 on each summons and was ordered to pay £3,198 costs.

He pleaded guilty to renting out the property to more occupants than was allowed under the licence between September 1, 2020 and October 21, last year.

Prosecutor Ryan Thompson, representing the London Borough of Southwark, told the court Theodoridis was limited to renting the property to four people from three family groups.

However, inspectors found occupants from four family groups.

Theodoridis did not have permission to rent one particular room that was 5.2m square, but it was occupied by one of his residents.

He also pleaded guilty to failing to ensure his name, address and telephone contact number were available to each resident and clearly displayed in a prominent position within the HMO.

Theodoridis further pleaded guilty to a summons of failing to properly protect the occupants due to an insufficient fire detection system; doors to the four bedsits were missing intumescent strips, cold smoke seals and self-closers and the kitchen door was missing intumescent strips and cold smoke seals. 

He also pleaded guilty to failing to ensure that all means of escape from fire in the HMO were kept free from obstruction as the entrance hall and first floor area of the common parts escape route was used for storage. 

The court heard the property had once been Theodoridis' own family home, but in recent years had been licenced by Southwark Council to be a HMO.

He produced three references from former residents, who commended Theodoridis for the condition he maintained the property in and attention and care he took regarding his tenants.

One even described him as “the best landlord I have ever had”, adding Theodoridis also mixed with his tenants socially and adhered to his responsibilities.

During the Covid crisis he was considered a key worker for his hospital research role.

District Judge Nigel McLean told Theodoridis: “You utilised the appeal procedure so knew you could not rent that room, but did so regardless.”

Train Pervert Who Targeted Young Females Is Locked-Up

A serial sex-pest, who exposed himself to females on south-east London's railway network, has been caged for sixteen months.

James Gathercole, 36, of Beckenham Road, Beckenham prowled trains and stations for almost a year and was caught when a teenage girl victim reported him to an off-duty police officer.

British Transport Police (BTP) had already launched a dedicated investigation to snare the sex offender, who once struck half a dozen times on one day.

Gathercole was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for the next ten years.

He was sentenced at Inner London Crown court for ten counts of indecent exposure between December, 2020 and November, last year.

Gathercole was detained on November 29, last year when a teenage girl in distress approached an off duty Metropolitan Police officer.

She reported that Gathercole had exposed his genitals and touched himself inappropriately in front of her on a train at New Cross station. 

BTP officers quickly arrived at the scene to arrest him and he was remanded in custody.

The court heard how on August 7, last year Gathercole committed six separate offences throughout the afternoon and evening, exposing himself to young women and teenage girls on services between New Cross Gate, Lewisham, and Sydenham stations.

BTP Detective Constable Sonja Lucas said: “It’s clear from Gathercole’s persistent and sickening actions that he is a danger to women and girls, and I’m pleased to see that after a rigorous investigation this serial offender is no longer free to travel on the railway network.

“These incidents will have had a serious impact on the victims’ lives, and no one should have to experience such vile behaviour as they travel.

“We are absolutely committed to stamping out this behaviour, and we will continue to target patrols to crime hotspots to catch and deter sexual offenders.

“I would also urge anyone who witnesses or experiences a sexual offence or sexual harassment on the railway to report it to us by texting 61016. We will always take you seriously.” 

Hunted By BTP: Train Pervert Who Played With Himself

A train passenger who pleasured himself while intimidating a lone female is being hunted by transport cops.

British Transport Police (BTP) have released this image of their suspect and are appealing to the public for their assistance in identifying him.

The victim boarded a train travelling between Lewes, East Sussex and East Croydon at 1.00pm on Monday, February 7.

A male passenger looked at her, saying: “Hey baby.”

She ignored him and moved to another part of the train.

Later in the journey she noticed the man had moved closer to her before he exposed himself inappropriately and started masturbating.

Officers believe the man in the image may have information which could help their investigation.

If you recognise him, or have any information, please contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 338 of 07/02/22.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Sex Therapist Accused Of Grooming 13 Year-Old Boy Online

A London sex therapist appeared in court yesterday, accused of arranging to meet a 13 year-old boy at a tube station after grooming him on the internet.

Psychotherapist Giles Dee-Shapland, 49, allegedly engaged in sexually-explicit conversations with the teenager and was detained in a citizens sting operation, the court heard.

According to his online biography he studied at Exeter; Greenwich and Kingston Universities, is Harley Street-trained and specialises in trauma and psychosexual disorder.

Dee-Shapland, of Walham Green Court, Cedarne Road, Fulham appeared on bail for the first time at City of Westminster Magistrates Court.

He also describes himself as ‘Sexpert at SimplySxy’ and a church youth group leader.

Prosecutor Jonathan Bryan told the court there was no real 13 year-old boy, but a group of citizens had posed as the youngster on an adult website.

Dee-Shapland is charged with attempting to engage a child in sexual activity on August 8, 2020.

He is also charged with attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child between August 8, 2020 and October 3, 2020.

Dee-Shapland is further charged with attempting to meet a child after grooming at Bayswater Underground Station October 3, 2020.

He indicated not guilty pleas on all three counts and was bailed to appear on June 9 at Isleworth Crown Court.

Sentenced To...........A Day At Westminster Magistrates Court

A Honduran asylum-seeker, caught driving in the heart of the City with a bogus licence, was sentenced to spend a day in court earlier this week.

Father-of-three Erick Javier Cruz Baca, 38, was told to remain in the waiting area at Westminster Magistrates Court for approximately five hours or alternatively pay a £120 fine, plus costs.

Currently residing in Luton Airport's Holiday Inn Baca pleaded guilty to driving a silver Vauxhall Astra in Cannon Street on April 10 without a driving licence.

He also pleaded guilty to driving the vehicle without insurance.

The court heard police stopped Baca in the centre of the Square Mile financial district because one of the vehicle's headlights was not working properly.

The officers asked for his details and Baca produced a forged driving licence.

Possession of that bogus document was dealt with separately by way of an out of court disposal.

The first-time offender, who required an interpreter, said: “I fled my country and I am looking for a job as soon as possible.”

The court heard he has children aged fifteen years-old; eight years-old and eighteen months old in his native Honduras.

“My family are in danger,” he told the court.

The bench Chair told Baca: “It must be a very stressful time for you. We have sympathy for your asylum position, but you have pleaded guilty to breaking the law and you should not be driving a car.”

Baca was fined £120, with £85 costs, plus a victim surcharge or alternatively spend the rest of the day in court, which will result in nothing to be paid.

He also received six penalty points, which will be applied to any legitimate driving licence he qualifies for.

Killer Tells Jury: "I Don't Remember Picking The Knife Up"

A training tutor fighting a murder charge after plunging a kitchen knife into her boyfriend’s heart told a jury today she has no memory of stabbing him.

Charlotte Kerr, 36, admits killing 29 year-old Giovanni Wallace, but claims she was acting in self-defence during yet another row, which began with him “aggressively” kicking her out of bed.

Both trained prospective nursery and school teachers and neighbours heard them rowing again at their small one-bedroom flat in Clyde Road, Addiscombe early on Sunday, October 25, 2020.

“I have told you everything,” claimed Kerr when cross-examined by prosecutor Danny Robinson QC. “I want to be able to give his family the answers.

“I have spoken to grief counsellors, pastors and told you everything I know.”

The couple sometimes even had non-verbal rows via text messages when together in the flat and neighbours reported hearing frequent shouting matches, Croydon Crown Court was told.

Kerr described father-of-two Mr Wallace, whose children are from a  previous relationship as “controlling, jealous and possessive,” and was preventing her fleeing that flat that morning.

She claims he verbally abused her in the living-room, accusing her of cheating, and from behind placed one arm around her neck, pulled her hair and banged her head on the floor.

Kerr told the trial Mr Wallace when collected several knives from the kitchen, threw one down on the living-room floor and pointed the largest blade at his own chest.

She says Mr Wallace also placed his hands around her neck and prevented her escaping the flat, asking her: “Is it a good day to die?”

Believing she was going to be killed Kerr claims she felt a hard object in her boyfriend’s pocket, which turned out to be his phone, and armed herself.

“I don’t remember picking the knife up, but I know I did. I don’t know what was going on when the injury was inflicted,” she told the court. 

Kerr said Mr Wallace was abusive, strangled her five months previously and forced her to wear damp clothing.

She denied she was exaggerating to support her case. “I have not embellished anything. In fact I’ve held back,” Kerr told the jury.

Mr Robinson asked her: “You don’t want to tell the truth do you?” Kerr replied: “That’s all I want.”

Earlier Mr Robinson told the jury: “At 7.39am Ms Kerr spoke to a 999 operator and asked for an ambulance to come quickly to Clyde Road, Addiscombe.

“Minutes earlier she had stabbed her boyfriend Mr Wallace in the chest with a kitchen knife.

“When she made the 999 call Mr Wallace was lying on the stairs of the property and neighbours were trying to give him first aid.”

Sadly, despite the efforts of paramedics nothing could be done to save Mr Wallace and he was pronounced dead at the address at 8.26am.

“She told the police officers that attended that she had stabbed Mr Wallace.

“He suffered a stab wound to the chest that penetrated his heart, causing him to lose a large amount of blood.

“She says Mr Wallace was trying to strangle her so she stabbed him to the chest in lawful self-defence.”

Showing photographs of the scene to the jurors Mr Robinson told them: “You will see some heavy blood-staining to clothing and in the flat’s communal area.”

The couple began dating in December, 2019, with Mr Wallace quickly moving into her flat.

However, their rows were so intense neighbours called police to the property in May, 2020 when Kerr was heard shouting: “F*** off and leave.”

Shortly before his death Mr Wallace asked his father if he could move in with him to get away from Kerr. 

“They had a big row about IVF and having children  and the defendant was accusing him of having an affair,” said the prosecutor.

Police examined the couple’s mobile phones during the investigation.

“They found evidence of a number of text arguments, Sometimes they would argue by text when alone in the flat together.”

A month before the stabbing police found a 4.55am text row concerning “the rejection of Kerr by Mr Wallace sexually,” Mr Robinson told the trial.

On the morning of the stabbing they were again rowing via text.

“Mr Wallace was asking Ms Kerr to ’shut up’ because he wanted to sleep and quickly became very argumentative,” said the prosecutor.

Mr Wallace texted: “My last ex was like that. I hate you, I really f***ing do. It’s the biggest mistake I f***ing made.”

The texting escalated to verbal arguing, even waking-up the next-door neighbour. “Both Ms Kerr and Mr Wallace sounded angry.

“Shortly before the stabbing the words: ‘F*** off then,” were heard and the neighbours downstairs heard loud shouting, mainly from Ms Kerr.”

The downstairs neighbour left their flat and witnessed the bloody scene. “They saw Giovanni Wallace lying in the communal hallway and Ms Kerr told them to call an ambulance and they started CPR.

Kerr told her neighbours: “He strangled me and I stabbed him.”

Kerr has pleaded not guilty to one count of murdering Mr Wallace at the flat on October 25, 2020.

Trial continues……………. 

Heat Catch Engineer Driving Under Influence Of Cannabis

A Sandwell heating engineer has been banned from the roads after being caught driving his work vehicle under the influence of cannabis.

Jack Slater, 27, drives all over the country for his job and was stopped by police in east London.

He failed a roadside drugs swab and a blood test revealed he was at almost double the legal limit for cannabis.

Father-of-two Slater, of Oakwood Road, Smethwick appeared at City of Westminster Magistrates Court yesterday, where he was disqualified from driving for twelve months.

He pleaded guilty to driving a Vauxhall Meriva on November 23, last year in Bethnal Green Road, Tower Hamlets with 3.9 ug/L of Delta 9 Tetrahydracannibinol in his blood.

The legal limit is 2.0.

He was fined £500, with £85 costs and ordered to pay a £50 victim surcharge.

Slater also pleaded guilty to driving without insurance and driving with a tyre below the minimum tread level on the same occasion and the court imposed no further penalty.

The court heard it was 2.50pm when police officers pulled Slater over and checks revealed he had no insurance police for the vehicle.

Officers also saw one of the vehicle’s front tyres was so worn the cord beneath the tread was exposed.

Slater was asked to submit to a drugs swab, which he failed and was taken into custody.

A subsequent blood test revealed the amount of cannabis in the first-time offender’s body.

Via the duty solicitor Slater told the court the vehicle belonged to his boss, but conceded it was his responsibility to ensure he was insured and the tyres were roadworthy.

He admitted occasionally smoking cannabis and had smoked the night before, not realising he was still over the legal limit.

Slater described his arrest as a “wake up call” and had just been promoted in his £500 per week job that requires him to drive all over the country.

NOT GUILTY: Deputy Head Cleared Of Touching Girl Pupils

A school deputy headmaster was today cleared by a jury of groping the legs of five teenage girls in his office.

Matthew Childs, 33, gave evidence during the trial and repeatedly said “no” to claims he rubbed his hands and legs against four fourteen year-olds and a fifteen year-old in his private office at Purley’s Harris Academy.

At Croydon Crown Court the married father-of-two, of Ladygrove, Pixton Way, Forestdale contested claims from the girls that he would squeeze their knees and run his hands up their skirts.

He was found not guilty of seven counts of sexual activity with a child on various dates between January 1 and June 30, 2019.

The geography teacher conceded there may have been unintentional knee-to-knee contact when the girls sat close to him in his office.

While fighting for his innocence Childs told the jury: “It could have happened accidentally, yes. If I was sitting in my chair at the computer and turned around my knee might haver knocked against theirs very briefly, for half a second.”

When asked by his defence lawyer if he had ever accidentally placed his hand on  a girl’s knee the vice-principal said: “Not that I am aware of.”

Asked the same question about touching a girl’s thigh Childs emphatically replied: “No.”

On the subject of making physical contact with any children he told the court: “No absolutely not.

“It is not something we would ever do. That is clear through and through and it is not something I would ever do.

“We have clear training and updates.”

When asked if there had ever been any similar complaints during his teaching career Childs replied: “Never anywhere. No.”

He also told the trial it was a rarity to have a behind-closed-doors discussion with pupils in his office.

“The door would be open when they came in. The was open even if I was in there on my own.

“Whenever pupils came in the door always remained open. The door would have been opened all the time.”

Childs said his office door would be closed on the rare occasions a pupil wanted to talk about a sensitive subject.

He also said his open office was directly opposite the office of a female teacher and near the school Principal’s PA. 

When questioned during the early stages of the investigation Childs said the first girl had effectively “started a protest” within the school.

The second girl had skipped lessons and confided in him she had sex with a boy in a disused Waddon flat.

“I had to report what she told me. She’s got it in for me,” said Childs.

He said the third girl had “issues in life” and would visit his office “to chat and unload,” conceding it was possible there had been accidental contact when he turned in his chair.

Regarding the fourth girl Childs said his headmaster warned him there was a “possibility” of accidental touching.

Childs said the fifth girl got into shouting matches with other pupils  and “would stir it up.”

Hate Crime Investigation On The DLR

Police are investigating a hate-crime after a woman, wearing a head scarf, was racially-abused and had the covering grabbed while travelling on the Docklands Light Railway.

British Transport Police have released this CCTV image of the suspect and are requesting the assistance of the public in identifying him.

The train was approaching Poplar station in east London just after 9.00pm on Thursday, January 20 when the shocking incident occurred.

The victim was standing by the carriage doors when a man approached her and made racial slurs about her head scarf.

Shortly afterwards he grabbed her head scarf and tried to pull it off.

The man then ripped her rucksack off her back, causing one of the straps to tear.

Officers believe the man in the CCTV images may have information which could assist their investigation.

If you recognise him, or have any information, please contact BTP by texting 61016 or calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 538 of 20/01/22.

Alternatively, call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

PCSO Accused Of Molesting Policewoman In Station Gym

A Police Community Support Officer, accused of molesting a policewoman in the station gym, appeared in court for the first time yesterday.

PCSO Edward Oniba, 53, is alleged to have hugged and kissed the female police officer on the neck after she refused to give him her phone number at the Kilburn Police Station gym.

The prosecution case is she did not consent to the touching.

Oniba, of Pasteur Court, Nightingale Avenue, Harrow indicated a not guilty plea when he appeared on bail at City of Westminster Magistrates Court.

He is charged with one count of sexually assaulting the officer at the Salusbury Road station in north-west London on October 30, 2020.

In a special sitting before senior District Judge Michael Snow Oniba elected jury trial.

He was bailed unconditionally to appear at Harrow Crown Court on June 6.

Murder Trial: Educational Tutor Plunged Kitchen Knife Into Boyfriend

Knife: Charlotte Kerr

A training tutor plunged a kitchen knife through her boyfriend’s heart during yet another argument between the squabbling pair, a court heard.

The couple sometimes even rowed via text messages when together in their small one-bedroom flat and neighbours reported hearing frequent shouting matches, Croydon Crown Court was told.

Charlotte Kerr, 36, and Giovanni Wallace, 29, both trained prospective nursery and school teachers and began dating less than a year earlier.

“At 7.39am on Sunday, October 25, 2020 Ms Kerr spoke to a 999 operator and asked for an ambulance to come quickly to Clyde Road, Addiscombe,” said prosecutor Danny Robinson QC.

“Minutes earlier she had stabbed her boyfriend Mr Wallace in the chest with a kitchen knife.

“When she made the 999 call Mr Wallace was lying on the stairs of the property and neighbours were trying to give him first aid.”

Sadly, despite the efforts of paramedics nothing could be done to save Mr Wallace and he was pronounced dead at the address at 8.26am.

“She told the police officers that attended that she had stabbed Mr Wallace.

“He suffered a stab wound to the chest that penetrated his heart, causing him to lose a large amount of blood.

“She says Mr Wallace was trying to strangle her so she stabbed him to the chest in lawful self-defence.”

Showing photographs of the scene to the jurors Mr Robinson told them: “You will see some heavy blood-staining to clothing and in the flat’s communal area.”

Father-of-two Mr Wallace has children aged ten and three years-old from a previous relationship and started seeing Kerr in December, 2019, quickly moving into her flat.

However, their rows were so intense neighbours called police to the property in May, 2020 when Kerr was heard shouting: “F*** off and leave.”

Shortly before his death Mr Wallace asked his father if he could move in with him to get away from Kerr. “They had a big row about IVF and having children  and the defendant was accusing him of having an affair.”

Police examined the couple’s mobile phones during the investigation.

“They found evidence of a number of text arguments,” said the prosecutor. “Sometimes they would argue by text when alone in the flat together.”

A month before the stabbing police found a 4.55am text row concerning “the rejection of Kerr by Mr Wallace sexually,” Mr Robinson told the trial.

On the morning of October 25 they were again rowing via text.

“Mr Wallace was asking Ms Kerr to ’shut up’ because he wanted to sleep and quickly became very argumentative,” said the prosecutor.

Mr Wallace texted: “My last ex was like that. I hate you, I really f***ing do. It’s the biggest mistake I f***ing made.”

The texting escalated to verbal arguing, even waking-up the next-door neighbour. “Both Ms Kerr and Mr Wallace sounded angry.

“Shortly before the stabbing the words: ‘F*** off then,” were heard and the neighbours downstairs heard loud shouting, mainly from Ms Kerr.”

The downstairs neighbour left their flat and witnessed the bloody scene. “They saw Giovanni Wallace lying in the communal hallway and Ms Kerr told them to call an ambulance and they started CPR.

Kerr told her neighbours: “He strangled me and I stabbed him.”

Kerr has pleaded not guilty to one count of murdering Mr Wallace at the flat on October 25, 2020.

Trial continues…………….  

Groupon Massage Therapist Accused Of Molesting Three Woman

Accused: Jay Steel

A massage therapist molested three women, who had all bought Groupon discount vouchers, with one fearing she would be raped, a court heard.

They all separately complained to the police they had been variously touched between the legs, had their breasts fondled or made to touch the masseur’s crotch.

Jay Steel, 60, of Whieldon Road, Stoke-on-Trent has pleaded not guilty to a total of seven counts of sexually assaulting the women at two London locations between February 27, 2017 and April 4, 2019.

The first complaint, a 32 year-old media professional told Croydon Crown Court Steel had a room in a Shand Thames dental surgery, near London Bridge that she visited on February 27, 2017.

“He was touching places only my boyfriend would touch,” she told the jury via her police video-recorded statement. 

She said she was face-down on the treatment table and Steel touched her between her legs when she asked for them to be massaged after a recent work-out injury. 

“As he went higher and higher I thought: ‘Where are you going?’ I totally freaked and must have made a sound because he said he was sorry and I felt so embarrassed for him.

“It happened again within a few minutes and I was flabbergasted. I made a horribly groaning croaky noise that was like: ‘Get the f*** off me.’

“This was under my underwear and I felt like I was not safe anymore and the person I had come to for help was a bit of a creep.

“I could feel myself tearing up and I was so embarrassed I froze.

“I just lay there like a dead animal thinking: ‘What’s the worst he can do in five minutes?’ I was so frightened that if I got up, I’m eight-and-a-half stone and he’s fourteen or fifteen stone.

“I couldn’t do anything. I was thinking: ‘You’re going to get raped or he he could really hurt you.’

“I booked a twenty-minute massage and got a two-hour ordeal,” she added, explaining Steel then placed each of her hands between his legs.

“He was using the shaking movement of my hand to touch himself. It was the kind of situation you think stupid ditzy girls get into.

“His breathing changed as if he was getting aroused.

‘His hands went into my bra and he started massaging really hard and it was causing me pain and I was going: ‘Argh, argh.’

“I could feel him touching my nipples. I was tearing up and he did this for ten minutes and mumbled something about lactic build-up.” 

She admitted not shouting out to Steel’s receptionist, telling him to stop or trying to flee the treatment room. “I was half-naked,” she said. “I was not sure how far I would get.”

Earlier prosecutor Judith Benson told the jury the second woman saw Steel on March 17, 2019. “She described him pushing her buttocks apart and pressing his crotch against her right hand.”

The woman also told police Steel touched her between her legs and moved her hand between his legs. “She also said she could feel her bra coming away from her body.”

The third woman saw Steel on April 4, 2019. “He focused on her groin and buttock area over her clothing in a rubbing movement,” said Ms Benson.

She says he also told her to adopt the ‘downward dog’ yoga position, resulting in her rear being raised. “She felt he was staring at her.”

The woman also told police Steel placed her hand between his legs and she told the friend she went with it was a “weird” experience.

Via his defence Steel says he behaved “perfectly properly” and did not intentionally touch the complainants intimately.

Trial continues………….  

School Deputy Headmaster Denies Rubbing Girl Pupils' Legs

A school deputy headmaster yesterday denied groping the legs of five teenage girls in his office “for his own sexual gratification.”

Matthew Childs, 33, repeatedly said “no” to claims he rubbed his hands and legs against four fourteen year-olds and a fifteen year-old in his private office at Purley’s Harris Academy.

Croydon Crown Court heard the married father-of-two, of Ladygrove, Pixton Way, Forestdale would squeeze knees and run his hands up the skirts of the pupils.

He has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of sexual activity with a child on various dates between January 1 and June 30, 2019.

The geography teacher conceded there may have been unintentional knee-to-knee contact when the girls sat close to him in his office.

“It could have happened accidentally, yes. If I was sitting in my chair at the computer and turned around my knee might haver knocked against theirs very briefly, for half a second,” Childs told the jury.

When asked by his defence lawyer if he had ever accidentally placed his hand on  a girl’s knee the vice-principal said: “Not that I am aware of.”

Asked them same question about touching a girl’s thigh Childs emphatically replied: “No.”

On the subject of making physical contact with any children he told the court: “No absolutely not.

“It is not something we would ever do. That is clear through and through and it is not something I would ever do.

“We have clear training and updates.”

When asked if there had ever been any similar complaints during his teaching career Childs replied: “Never anywhere. No.”

He also told the trial it was a rarity to have a behind-closed-doors discussion with pupils in his office.

“The door would be open when they came in. The was open even if I was in there on my own.

“Whenever pupils came in the door always remained open. The door would have been opened all the time.”

Childs said his office door would be closed on the rare occasions a pupil wanted to talk about a sensitive subject.

He also said his open office was directly opposite the office of a female teacher and near the school Principal’s PA. 

The jury were played the police interview of the first girl, aged fourteen years-old, who said: “I would get detention often and seeing he was in a high place of power get him to talk about it and take it off.

“I would have to sit near him and his leg would rub up and then his hand brushing over my knee, his hand on the knee and then squeezing and up my leg.

“He attempted to touch the underneath of my thigh,” added the girl, revealing her family were reluctant to report the alleged incident.

“My mum did not want to call the police in case it was a misunderstanding and she told me to move away from him.”

Earlier prosecutor Paul Casey told the trial: “He was a teacher in a position of trust, a vice-principal, what was known as a deputy head.

“He had oversight at the secondary school where pupils trusted him and came to see him to air problems and he had a safeguarding role.

“He acted as a de facto court of appeal at Harris Academy and abused that power and his position of trust for his own sexual gratification.

“He touches, with his hands and his own legs the legs of girls who came into his room,” added the prosecutor. “The repetitive nature of that activity is at the heart of the case.

“This happened repeatedly in similar circumstances. There is a sense of modus operandi here.

“Mr Childs may suggest these girls have got together to do him in by making false allegations to ruin his life and career.”

Police were first alerted by Croydon local authority on June 18, 2019 of complaints from three of the girls and two more came forward in the following weeks.

The first girl said Childs touched her on at least six different occasions and the second girl, also aged fourteen, said there were at least two incidents.

“He would brush his fingers against and up my leg and get higher,” said the second girl.”

The third girl, aged fifteen years-old, said: “I felt like he touched my leg. I moved my leg and felt it again.”

The fourth girl, 14, had to write a statement in Childs’ office. “His knee kept touching me,” she said.

The fifth girl, 14, said there was another pupil in Childs’ office when he touched her. “He placed his hand on my leg and did it again and started moving his hand up my skirt.

“He was talking to us about using a condom to have sex with someone and started talking sexually to us.”

Mr Casey told the jury: “There is an increasing boldness from Mr Childs in the nature of his language and conversation and touching a girl in front of another.”

When questioned Childs said the first girl had effectively “started a protest” within the school.

The second girl had skipped lessons and confided in him she had sex with a boy in a disused Waddon flat.

“I had to report what she told me. She’s got it in for me,” said Childs.

He said the third girl had “issues in life” and would visit his office “to chat and unload,” conceding it was possible there had been accidental contact when he turned in his chair.

Regarding the fourth girl Childs said his headmaster warned him there was a “possibility” of accidental touching.

Childs said the fifth girl got into shouting matches with other pupils  and “would stir it up.”

The prosecutor told the trial: “Maybe this was an opportunity, you may feel, to get his retaliation in first and trash those making a complaint.”

Trial continues………….