West Yorkshire Teacher Guilty Of Sex Offences

29 September 2011, 16:43 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A West Yorkshire teacher who drove his car as two teenagers had sex on the back seat was told 'a prison sentence is inevitable' by a judge today.

A jury has heard how a 16-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy had sex in William Drury's car as he drove them home from his house in Chester Road, Halifax.

48 year old drama teacher Drury, was found guilty of a series of sex offences at Leeds Crown Court.

Judge James Spencer postponed sentencing the teacher and rejected a plea for him to be freed on bail.

The judge told the court: 'It seems to me a prison sentence is inevitable notwithstanding his hitherto good character.'

He said bail would be 'highly inappropriate'.

Drury showed no emotion as he left the dock with two prison guards.

The jury of seven women and five men were told Drury said the pair looked 'beautiful' as they had sex in his car and pulled into a lay-by to allow them to continue.

Drury told the court he came to look upon the boy as a friend and would discuss personal and sexual matters with the teenager. It heard that the teacher was 'infatuated' with the girl and told her he loved her on several occasions.

The jury was told that Drury kissed her and put his hand up her top to feel her breasts, kissed her neck and ears, and on one occasion ran his hand up the back of her thigh and tried to put his hand inside her pants.

He also took photographs of the girl wearing a top without a bra, including one close-up of her breast area.

Drury, a married father-of-two, was arrested after pupils saw the pictures on his computer.

Police who examined the teacher's computer found a number of other photographs of female students, including one of a girl sunbathing in a bikini, which he had cropped to begin at her vaginal area, and some of a 15-year-old girl in her underwear.

Prosecutors said Drury had been 'grooming' the teenage couple who had sex in his car.

The teacher later received a formal oral warning for his 'over-familiar involvement with students' by giving pupils lifts and was warned that he was 'jeopardising his professional standing and the reputation of the school'.

The jury was told that 'vulnerable' teenage girls would go to Drury to tell him their problems.

He described one as his 'mistress' and asked another for a 'birthday f***' on her 16th birthday.

After his arrest, the beginning of an erotic short story describing a physical relationship between a teacher and a pupil was found on his computer.

Today, Drury was found guilty of two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity by a person in a position of trust; two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity by a person in a position of trust; and two counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.

Yesterday, the jury found him guilty of one count of engaging in sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust and six counts of making indecent photos of a child.

Drury was cleared of causing a 16-year-old girl to perform a sex act on a 17-year-old boy in a school store cupboard.

After the case, Pauline McCullagh, from the Crown Prosecution Service Yorkshire and Humberside's rape and serious sexual offences unit, said:

'On Drury's home computer, a number of indecent photographs of children were discovered.

'He also abused his position as a teacher for the purposes of sexually exploiting his pupils and it is difficult to imagine a worse case of abuse of trust by someone in a position of responsibility.

'Drury should have been safeguarding his pupils' welfare, not abusing it for his own gratification.

'We've worked with our colleagues at West Yorkshire Police to build a robust case against this defendant and I hope that his conviction today will enable his victims to move on with their lives.'

He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on October 31.