Arabic version: إدانة معلمة باعتداءات مخلة بالحياء على تلاميذ سابقين

According to The Guardian, Sally-Anne Bowen, a former chemistry teacher at Christ’s College in Finchley, north London, has been found guilty of seven counts of indecent assault against two teenage pupils in the late 1980s. A jury at Harrow crown court returned majority verdicts after six hours and 29 minutes of deliberations.

Bowen, now 65 and from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, taught at the all-boys school when the boys were about 14 to 15 and she was in her mid-20s. One complainant told the court he had sex with Bowen “about 20 or 30 times” over several months, visiting her home and believing she was his girlfriend. He said he kept the relationship secret because he felt compelled to protect her.

The complainant said in a police interview that the experience had been “the destruction of my education”. Madeleine Wolfe, prosecuting, told jurors that his evidence had “a real visceral quality to it” and said the account had remained with him for decades. The second complainant said he and Bowen kissed once in a cafe after other boys goaded him into it.

Bowen denied the allegations, describing them as “total fabrication”. She denied having a relationship with the first complainant and said she did not remember the second complainant. During the trial, another former pupil, Tobias Oliver, gave evidence about Bowen’s classroom behaviour, while former head of science Richard Luker recalled a complaint from the first victim’s mother.

Bowen was granted bail until her sentence hearing on 20 November.