Victim Of Jailed Birmingham Teacher Says Abuse Still Affects Him

17 March 2015, 09:24 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A victim of retired Birmingham teacher John Patton who was jailed yesterday has told Capital that what happened to him shattered his whol

The 74 year old from Coventry was jailed for almost four years yesterday after admitting indecently assaulting boys he taught in the 1980s.

Chris, who's name we've changed to protect his identity, was one of those who was abused at Kinghurst Comprehensive in Chelmsley Wood.

He's now 49 but said the abuse still lives with him:

"I didn't know what he was trying to do until that night he got me back into his flat.

"We were supposed to go on a trip and he said we can't go straight to London and we'll stay over at the flat in Coventry and I thought that was perfectly normal."

"[If] I'd reported the offence all those years ago then the other boys would not have had to have gone through what they went through so it was kind of guilt and it was my way of backing their story up."

Chris told Capital he continued to struggle with what happened into his adult life and it affected the relationship he had with the woman he married.

"When I got married we talked about having children and it was easier to say I don't want children I'd rather have a divorce than risk bringing kids into this world.

"It wasn't until my poor mum was diagnosed with breast cancer that I had to tell her why I was such a failure that all my dreams had gone.

"Once I spoke about it then I couldn't hide it again it was out I didn't have the strength to bury the memory."