Star of TV
advert jailed for
sex abuse
of pupils

Adam Gutteridge was sentenced to four years yesterday after pleading guilty to 10 sex charges at an earlier hearing.

The 38-year-old, of Earlsfield Road, Earlsfield, south London, was teaching at a school in Dorset when the offences took place. He later moved to London and starred in a TV advert.

Sentencing the defendant Judge Peter Johnson said: “What was going on was disgraceful, damaging conduct on your behalf.”

Gutteridge had pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual activity with a child, two of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and two of sexual activity with a child being a person in a position of trust.

He had also pleaded not guilty to another count of sexual activity with a child, which the Crown accepted.

Gutteridge, who worked at the school from September 2002 to August 2007, groomed two of the girls on the school’s internal messaging system and also preyed on one of his victims during a school trip.

Simon Jones, prosecuting, told Bournemouth Crown Court that the defendant’s relationship with one of the victims he had groomed online started with them cuddling and kissing, but progressed through to having oral sex and full intercourse.

It was not until one of the victims saw Gutteridge appearing on a prime time television advert for a recruitment agency she came forward to police.

Simon Kitchen, representing Gutteridge, told the court that his client’s wife and family were in court to support him. He said Gutteridge’s wife knew about the offences before any of the victims came forward and the pair were in a loving relationship.

Mr Kitchen told the court his client knows there is “no real excuse” for the way he behaved, but said he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following his involvement in the Childers hostel fire in Australia in 2000. Gutteridge had rescued several backpackers from the blaze, which killed 15 people and had been hailed a hero at the time, the court was told.