After a two week trial in which she was accused of flaunting her baby bonnet for sympathy, the verdict is in: Rebecca Joynes, 30, did have sex with two of her male pupils and now she joins the grim list of British paedophile teachers.
Joynes wrecked her career and the innocence of the two children by having a one-night stand with a 15-year-old pupil before she got pregnant by a second boy.
Sobbing as the verdict was passed, she was granted bail until her sentencing on July 4th where it is expected she will be caged.
The disgraced teacher now faces a lifetime ban from the teaching profession on top of a lengthy prison sentence – and a battle to spend time with her baby daughter conceived in such sordid circumstances.
However, as tragic and disreputable as Joynes story is, she is sadly not the only British teacher to have betrayed the trust of their pupils and denigrated the profession in recent years.
Rebecca Joynes was found guilty of four counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust
Rebecca Joynes arriving at Manchester Crown Court on Friday before the verdict was announced
Experts say teachers like these are ‘delusional’ – convinced they fall in love with their targets, with whom they believe they feel ‘real connections’ built in the classroom.
Stacy Kaiser, a US-based psychotherapist and an expert in criminal psychology who has profiled similar offenders in the States, believes many teachers who target children are insecure and seek out relationships where they have the upper hand.
In addition, female teachers may use their position to their advantage – giving their targets a sense of excitement by sharing intimate images, before wielding their authority to keep them under control.
Writing for the Mail, she said: ‘I have spoken to victims in recent years who have told me that they were excited by seeing their teachers in provocative poses.
‘The private access to these images gave them the feeling of a “special connection” to an authority figure, which also made them fearful that their teacher would get “mad at them” if they didn’t continue the relationships.
‘Beyond appearances, the most common feature of a typical female sex offender profile is a deep-seated personality disorder.
‘The women I counseled told me that they felt ‘real connections’ with the boys they targeted. Some offenders claim to ‘fall in love’ with their victims and even purport to be “dating” them.
‘That’s nothing more than delusional thinking – a way to justify breaking the law and traumatising a vulnerable person.’
These are just a handful of the British teachers who have been guilty of sexual offences against their own pupils.
Rebecca Joynes
After being bombarded with comments from boys in her Year 11 maths class about how ‘sexy’ she was, Rebecca Joynes invited one back to her luxury Salford Quays flat where they had sex twice.
Incredibly, despite being arrested and suspended after rumours of the illicit fling spread, Joynes ‘brazenly’ went onto embark on a secret sexual relationship with one of his classmates.
It was finally exposed after she confessed to the second teenager – to whom she wrote a love letter saying ‘Every inch of you is perfect’ – that she was pregnant with his child.
Rebecca Joynes pictured in 2018, years before she had sex with two of her students
Throughout the trial Joynes arrived to court each day wearing a baby’s bonnet tucked into the waistband of her trousers. She later denied this was to ‘win sympathy’ from the jury – but they were not convinced
Joynes was found guilty of having sex with two 15-year-old pupils, one of whom she bought a £345 Gucci belt from Selfridges at the Trafford Centre
Damningly he told police it had dawned on him that he’d ‘sacrificed 18 months for a paedophile’.
‘She just basically mentally abused me,’ he added.
It can now be revealed that the 30-year-old spent several months in custody after the second boy spoke to police.
She was only released on stringent bail conditions due to the ‘intractable’ problem of her daughter’s impending birth.
To compound the self-inflicted personal tragedy, the baby was taken away from her within 24 hours of being born earlier this year following an emergency court hearing.
‘At the moment I have got contact with her three times a week for three hours,’ she told the court through sobs.
‘That’s it.’
Joynes was supported throughout the trial by her business owner father Stuart. Pictured: On Thursday as the jury were sent out to begin deliberations
Former teacher Rebecca Joynes, 30, has been found guilty after a trial at Manchester Crown Court
Following a two-week trial during which jaw-dropping detail emerged about the softly-spoken former cheerleader’s career suicide, Joynes was found guilty of four counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.
Upon her guilty verdict, Jane Wilson, Senior Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West, said: ‘Rebecca Joynes is a sexual predator.
‘Joynes was entrusted with the responsibility of teaching and safeguarding children. She abused her position to groom and ultimately sexually exploit schoolboys. Her behaviour has had a lasting impact on them.
‘The CPS worked with Greater Manchester Police to build a strong case to put before the jury, including eyewitness testimony, phone evidence showing the messages sent by Joynes and CCTV footage.
‘I would like to thank the victims for supporting the prosecution. Joynes will now face the consequences of her actions.’
Ieuan Bartlett
High school teacher Ieuan Bartlett, 29, was jailed this year after having sex with a ‘vulnerable’ girl after sneaking into her home while her mother was out.
Bartlett secretly went through the side door of her house to avoid her mother’s Ring doorbell camera and ‘pressured her’ into sending him naked selfies, his trial heard.
He pleaded guilty to 12 counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust, including sexual intercourse with the girl.
His guilty pleas came after an earlier jury failed to reach a verdict. Bartlett was due to stand retrial but changed his pleas to admit the sex crimes.
Ieuan Bartlett, 29 (pictured) secretly went through the side door of her house to avoid her mother’s doorbell camera
Bartlett had sex with the ‘vulnerable’ girl and ‘pressured her’ into sending him naked selfies, the court heard
Prosecutor Matthew Cobbe said, in the previous trial, that Bartlett was the teacher the girl had ‘turned to for support’ in his role as a welfare officer but he abused his position.
Mr Cobbe said: ‘Mr Bartlett took advantage of his role – he gained her trust and her confidence and for the first few months of getting to know her, he built an ever closer bond with her.
‘It’s the prosecution’s case that he began a sexual relationship with her. This case is about that sexual relationship.’
Mr Cobbe said the girl began seeing Bartlett in a one-on-one role at the high school where he worked.
‘It was that privacy, that isolation that allowed the defendant to build on the bond that he was creating, nurturing with her ultimately causing her to think that he had fallen for her and that she was in a loving relationship with him,’ he said.
She was just 16 when he asked for sex pictures – and sex took place during the school holidays in August 2021.
The girl told police Bartlett would hug and kiss her and tell her he wanted a relationship with her and to move in with her when she left college.
Bartlett was due to stand retrial but changed his pleas to admit the sex crimes
She told officers he would ‘constantly say he loves me and loves everything about me’ and that he wanted to book hotel rooms for them to have sex in.
The girl said she had unprotected sex with Bartlett at her home after the school term had ended for summer in August 2021.
Cardiff Crown Court heard he entered and left through the side door of the house so he wasn’t captured by the Ring doorbell camera.
The girl also said she and Bartlett had performed sex acts on each other and had full sex during the school term.
Mr Cobbe said text messages made it ‘crystal clear’ they were talking about ‘sex they have previously had and enjoyed’ during the term.
He said the messages referred to ‘sex positions that they had enjoyed and why they had enjoyed those positions.’
Bartlett was arrested and interviewed twice by police but declined to answer any of the questions put to him.
On May 3, he was sentenced to three years and four months in prison.
Kandace Barber
Teaching assistant Kandace Barber was jailed for six years and two months in 2021 for having sex with a 15-year-old pupil in a field.
Barber corrupted her 15-year-old victim, sending him topless pictures and a video of herself performing a sexual act.
She began messaging the boy in 2018 after taking his phone number at a school sports day prize-giving.
The texts turned sexual and Barber picked him up in her SUV before driving to a field in October 2018 where they had sex in the secluded spot she had researched online.
She continued sending him texts, one of them saying: ‘You cannot make me blush when I am teaching now, poker face.’
The blonde teacher had bombarded the then 15-year-old boy with messages such as ‘do you like boobs or bum?’
Another message asked: ‘Do you prefer boobs or bum?’ and she sent him a picture of herself lying on a bed surrounded by sex toys.
Kandice was found out after a topless pictures she had sent her victim was circulated around so much it ended up being passed to the head teacher of their school.
Recorder Bal Dhaliwal said Barber had ‘acted in gross breach of trust’ and had taken ‘advantage of a child in your care and groomed him for your own sexual gratification’.
She told the teacher: ‘The victim was a 15-year-old boy in his final year at school. You had control and authority over him. He felt drawn in by you due to the compliments, you caused him to engage in sex with you while he was a pupil in your care.
‘You threatened to take him down with you if he reported it. You already had authority over him by virtue of your position but to use threats is beyond despicable.’
Barber is now free after serving half her jail term and plans to start rebuilding her life with her three children, MailOnline revealed earlier this year.
Her privileges were revoked after it was discovered she was meeting lover Jay Delaney – a convicted fraudster – while on work release from East Sutton Park Women’s prison in Kent.
Barber and Delaney took selfies together, which were discovered by prison authorities, and sanctions were imposed, including restricted visiting hours.
But it has not affected her release date and she is believed to be waiting for Delaney to leave prison so they can rekindle their relationship on the outside.
A source said: ‘She can consider herself very fortunate to be released at the halfway point of her sentence after such a serious infringement of prison rules.
‘Although she is now out of jail she will be carefully monitored as a sex offender and will have to register her details and movements with the police.’
Kandice Barber (pictured), 37, is free after serving half her jail term and plans to start rebuilding her life with her three children
Barber and Delaney (pictured together) took selfies together, which were discovered by prison authorities, and sanctions were imposed, including restricted visiting hours
Fatinham Hossain
Cover teacher Fatinham Hossain was jailed for five years and four months in 2021 after admitting to sexual activity with a boy while in a position of trust and a separate count of perverting the course of justice.
Following her initial arrest in June 2020, the court heard how she spun a ‘web of lies and manipulation’ as she set up several fake social media accounts to harass the victim’s family members and to try and bribe the boy into dropping the charges.
She also posed as a 14-year-old girl and contacted a male relative of the boy in a bid to frame him as a paedophile and have him sacked and arrested, the court heard.
Through various fake accounts, she also bullied and threatened other pupils, telling them not to talk to the police.
Fatinham Hossain (pictured), 25, of Horsham, West Sussex, was jailed for five years
Fatinah Hossain (pictured), 25, allegedly bragged how members of her class would chat her up at the school in West Sussex
It came after she faked a pregnancy when the boy said he had wanted to end the sexual relationship.
Hossain will be a registered sex offender indefinitely and will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO) for 10 years after she is released from prison.
She was also issued with a restraining order to last indefinitely, prohibiting her from any contact with the initial victim and several others and barring her from entering specific areas of Horsham.
Judge Jeremy Gold told Hossain that she had embarked on a quite remarkable campaign of harassment which was ‘relentless, wide-ranging and malicious following the persistent nature of penetrative (sexual) activity over time’.
The prosecution came after an investigation by detectives from the West Sussex Safeguarding Investigations Unit.
Detective Constable Leigh Rankin said: ‘Hossain was first arrested in June 2020 following a report that she had groomed and had sex with a 14-year-old boy from a school in Horsham where she was working as a study supervisor/cover teacher.
‘A sexual relationship continued for several months during which she continued to manipulate the boy’s emotions, including claiming that she was pregnant after he had tried to end the relationship.
‘Hossain was initially released on bail for further investigation. Following this the victim, his family and friends suffered a prolonged and complex campaign of behaviour against them in an attempt to derail the investigation and avoid justice.
‘Using fake social media accounts Hossain attempted to manipulate other children, with threats being made against at least one other child should they speak to the police.
‘Through fake names, she made significant threats of harm to the boy and his family and said she would pay him to drop the charges.
‘Hossain was charged with offences in October 2020 and was bailed by magistrates.
‘She then created a number of fake social media accounts using different names including that of a 14-year-old girl.
‘Using this particular account, she fabricated messages between her and an adult family member of the boy.
‘She then used these fake accounts in an attempt to have the family member lose his job.
‘She then went on to make multiple false reports to the police from further false accounts in attempt to get the adult family member arrested.’
The ‘infatuated’ teaching assistant (pictured) was jailed for grooming and having intercourse with the teenager over several months
Detective Ranking said Hossain continued to attempt to make false reports to police until March 2021, when evidence was received to show that all the allegations against the family were falsified by her.
This led to her being further charged and remanded until she was convicted.
Detective Ranking added: ‘This was a prolonged and distressing campaign and we are glad that justice has now been done for the boy and the several other people who became entrapped in Hossain’s web of lies and manipulation.’
Ryan Fisher
Scottish teacher Ryan Fisher, 29, was convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old girl while he taught at Prestwick Academy in Ayrshire.
He told her in text messages that he was ‘like a Jimmy Savile’ – and had sex with her in his home in Troon, his car, and in wasteland beside the town’s rugby club between October 2013 and March 2015.
The court heard he had texted the girl on a near-daily basis, and had argued that lowering the age of consent ‘made sense’.
Ryan Fisher, a 29-year-old teacher at Prestwick Academy in Ayrshire, who took his own life after being convicted of unlawful sex
He had taught at Prestwick Academy on the west coast of Scotland (pictured)
He told her how to delete messages on video-calling platform Skype, and had sex with her in the bedroom he shared with his girlfriend. As he drove her to his home, he made her ‘duck down’ as he drove past his mother’s house.
He later met another pupil in a bar and texted the girl to say: ‘She’s legal, she’s 17 ha ha ha. But I’d still get sacked.’
‘I’m not suggesting it’s right for a teacher to f*** a student – it’s not – but that annoys me,’ he said in one text discussing the age of consent.
‘It’s not a joke when you’re going through it. Nobody can understand what it’s like.’
Fisher had denied the charges but was convicted in 2019 of having unlawful sex, breaching a position of trust and sending explicit communications for sexual gratification.
But before he could be sentenced, he took his own life and was found dead at home in July 2019.
Lewis Hobbs
Newly qualified teacher Hobbs, now in his early 30s, had a 10-month relationship with an underage pupil and was caught having sex with her by the girl’s older sister.
Hobbs, from Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, told the older girl he was in love and that she ‘wouldn’t understand’ – but pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity in early 2021.
The supply teacher had met the schoolgirl when she saw him crying in a classroom after dismissing an unruly class early. She added him on messaging platform Snapchat and from there a relationship developed.
Lewis Hobbs, who preyed on a schoolgirl that showed him kindness after a disruptive lesson
Prosecutors said the girl became ‘infatuated’ with Hobbs who, rather than discouraging her, would kiss her in the PE staff room and meet up with her for trysts.
Matters came to a head when he visited her home when her mother was away for a few days – and was discovered by his target’s older sister.
He then blurted out: ‘You don’t understand, I love her.’ He then told police who turned up to arrest him: ‘I love her to bits… we wanted to spend time together… you can’t help your feelings… we have a long term plan’.
His once-besotted victim told the court: ‘He made me feel special and had my attention and now that I am older I feel that everything about it was inappropriate.
‘I was disgusted about it. I was a child and I was taken advantage of by an adult who should have known better.
‘I would have done anything for him, to protect him. I just wish I had known then what I know now. I was naïve.’
Lawyers acting for Hobbs said he was ‘dealing with the fallout of his own stupidity’, while the judge who sentenced him slammed him for not discouraging the youngster’s feelings.
Judge Shaun Smith said: ‘There is nothing right about what you did. It was all wrong and she was too immature to even think about what was happening.
‘You were the adult and she was the child. You abused her and your position at the school.’
Hobbs was jailed for three years, handed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order and banned from working with children for life.