Sex dungeon head teacher jailed for four years after swindling £100,000
SWNS/TERRY HARRIS Judge Stuart Bridge said Stewart was a 'joke' and 'resigned in disgrace' after the events in 2014
James Stewart, 72, led a seedy double life behind closed doors during his 30 years in charge at Sawtry Community College, Cambs, a court heard. His office was packed with sex toys and accessories and had been adapted for booze-fuelled romps with his married secretary. Stewart, earning £120,000-a-year, raided school coffers to fund a lavish lifestyle including fine wines, dining on smoked salmon and oysters, hotel bar bills and ski trips abroad. He also blew cash on home and garden improvements, private car insurance and funded expensive mobile phone and TV packages.
TERRY HARRIS A total of £100,000 incurred by Stewart included £80,000 worth of fiddled expenses
It is impossible to calculate the impact of your conduct Judge Stuart Bridge
An investigation found Stewart gave himself unauthorised pay rises while the school was placed in special measures. His lifestyle was exposed after staff spotted Stewart and his secretary Christine Laxton on TV as they attended Newmarket races. Church-going Stewart had left school early claiming he was going to a meeting. Staff told Ofsted inspectors they had heard laughing and clear sounds of a “sexual nature” when Stewart was in his lavishly-furnished office with his lover, Huntingdon Crown Court heard. The school’s site manager said during the summer holidays he heard sounds coming from Stewart’s office “likened to the Benny Hill Show”.
SWNS Stewart's office had a shelf full of beers, spirits and mixers
Stewart was also heard serenading Mrs Laxton on his electric piano in his “inner sanctum” which was fitted with rugs and cushions, a bedding area and a fridge packed with chilled champagne which the couple sipped through erotically-shaped straws. Photographs shown in court revealed a fridge full of wine and shelves containing bottles of beers, spirits and mixers. The images also show a number of sex toys, cards from the karma sutra, a game of “saucy charades” and rude balloons. Stewart was described as an “overbearing bully”. The £100,000 fraud included £80,000 in fiddled expenses. His actions left the school, which had “haemorrhaged staff”, in a “dire financial position”.
SWNS Teachers reportedly heard sounds of a sexual nature coming from Stewart's refurbished office
Jailing Stewart, judge Stuart Bridge said he had become a “joke” who abused his headship at the academy until he “resigned in disgrace” in 2014. He said: “You failed to provide quality of education in staff development and resources, to the detriment of the reputation of the college. “It is impossible to calculate the impact of your conduct. "You are paid to exercise discipline, to lead and get respect from children, staff and parents. "You conducted yourself in such a way you became something of a joke. “You appear now quite rightly a man humiliated by his actions. I am of the view that the only sentence this court can pass is a substantial sentence of immediate custody.”
SWNS Stewarts actions had put staff into a dire financial situation