Teacher given 15 years for child sex offences

Anthony Dockerty, 41, from Hull, was condemned for the campaign of abuse he waged which employed the social networking site on the internet, and was told that he was a “manipulative” man who had used his position as a teacher and his vastly superior difference in age to target his victims.

Hull Crown Court was told yesterday how Dockerty sent text messages to one teenage girl before seducing her after chatting to her on his page on the Facebook site.

Dockerty, who was dressed in a black leather jacket, blue shirt and dark trousers, showed no emotion as he was jailed during yesterday’s hearing at the crown court.

Relatives of his victims applauded and jeered as he was led away from the dock.

The crown court was told that Dockerty sent one of his 15-year-old pupils a total of 150 messages, many of which were of a sexual and highly inappropriate nature.

He would tell the teenage victim that she looked “gorgeous” and that he wanted to “grab her and bite her neck” before warning her to delete the messages in case someone discovered them.

The court was told the teenager developed a “crush” on Dockerty and she would often leave a folder behind at the secondary school so she could come back and collect it and meet him alone.

She once told him she thought he looked depressed and asked what was wrong.

He suggested she look on his Facebook page and the relationship developed.

The pair eventually agreed to meet up at his house where he gave her a tour of the property before taking her upstairs to his bedroom where he kissed and fondled her, the court heard.

A woman, who had access to Dockerty’s Facebook account and who grew increasingly concerned about the nature of the messages she was reading alerted the police.

Officers arrived at his house where they met the youngster who had just missed a bus home and had returned to his property.

Dockerty initially claimed that he did not know the girl, although he later maintained that she was simply having a maths lesson, the court was told.

Dockerty, of The Rydales in Hull, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust and sexually grooming a girl under 17.

In a separate case, Dockerty was found guilty following a week-long trial of carrying out a string of sex attacks on two other teenage girls.

He was found guilty by a jury of carrying out two rapes and one attempted rape as well as indecent assault, two counts of sexual assault and sexual activity with a child.

The court was told that Dockerty had met the 16-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at his school and had taken her back to his home.

She claims he then snorted cocaine and indecently assaulted her.

Recorder Alistair McDonald claimed Dockerty had used his position of trust as a teacher to prey on his teenage victims and satiate his sexual appetite.

The judge told Dockerty: “You are a highly manipulative person who uses his vastly greater age and professional position to have your way sexually.”

Recorder McDonald told the court that Dockerty had “cowered into submission” one of his victims and the defendant had manipulated the teenager to satisfy his own sexual urges.

The judge also claimed Dockerty had “clearly demonstrated” that his sexual urges were directed at “young and impressionable” girls.

He questioned why Dockerty was considered at low risk of re-offending, but concluded that he could deal with the defendant by imposing a determinate sentence with an extended period on licence.

Dockerty was also made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order which severely restricts his contact with young people and bans him from working with children in the future.