Powys: Thomas Marriott sexually abused girl at York school

Thomas Marriott taught history and coached rowing when he worked at the private school in Bootham for four years, York Crown Court heard.

His barrister Helen Chapman claimed he had never had any training in child safeguarding or teaching training.

Today he is a registered sex offender and will never teach again.

A spokesman for the school said all its staff received "rigorous training" and that child safeguarding was of "paramount importance". 

Deborah Smithies, prosecuting, said Marriott had had an inappropriate relationship with a girl pupil. He had behaved sexually towards her on several occasions in a short period. The pupil had looked into getting birth control so they could have a “dirty weekend” together.

Ms Smithies also said that the girl had felt she had to keep their relationship secret to protect his reputation and his career, and that Marriott had told her another member of staff had warned him about his conduct towards her.

The prosecution barrister quoted a statement from a member of staff saying they had seen the couple together in circumstances which should not have occurred but had not seen anything “untoward”.

READ MORE: Thomas Marriott admits sex act with girl at St Peter's School, York

In a personal statement to the court years after the offence, the girl described Marriott as a “predator” who may have “groomed” her and who had “ruined her life”. She said his actions towards her had affected her mental health.

“When children go to school, parents don’t expect them to be abused by the teacher,” Recorder Taryn Turner told Marriott.

“You should have known better, you should have put a stop to it. You should not have let things progress in the manner they did. You should have heeded the red flags that were clearly obvious.”

She said the statement from the girl showed she was now a “very troubled individual”.

Marriott, 37, now of Churchstoke near Montgomery, pleaded guilty to three offences of sexual activity committed in abuse of a position of trust.

He was made subject to a 21-month prison sentence suspended for two years on condition he does 20 days’ rehabilitative activities and 180 hours’ unpaid work. He will be on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

For him, Helen Chapman said he would never teach again.

At the time Marriott had not had a “a day of teacher training,” the barrister said. “He had never undergone any safeguarding training.”

She also said that the school’s child safeguarding records for the period of the offences did not include any reference to Marriott or indication that he had been formally spoken to on the matter.

Marriott knew that his relationship with the girl was unethical but didn’t know that it was illegal, said the defence barrister.

He was remorseful for his actions and had not committed any other offence before or since.

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A St Peter's School spokesperson said: “The safeguarding of our pupils is of paramount importance to us and we will always continue to review and scrutinise our processes.

"All of our staff receive rigorous training, and we work closely with statutory and advisory bodies to ensure that our approaches are thorough and up to date.

"On behalf of St Peter’s School, we repeat our full and unreserved apology to Marriott’s victim for their suffering while a pupil at St Peter’s.

"We offer any support they need and hope that this sentencing will bring them the justice they deserve. We have given North Yorkshire Police our full cooperation in this investigation and thank them for bringing it to a conclusion.”