12th Jul 2023

Former music teacher, Ben Breakwell jailed for 17 years

A 40-year-old London teacher has been convicted of 32 sexual offences, including 25 counts of sexual activity with a child after he formed inappropriate relationships with 3 schoolgirls who were aged between 13 and 14 at the time.  Breakwell has been described as a manipulative man who abused his position of trust at the school to groom and exploit pupils.

The offences took place between 2014 and 2017 at a secondary school in Hammersmith, West London. The school immediately suspended Breakwell in 2017 after friends of one of his victims approached a member of staff at the school with their suspicions about Breakwell’s behaviour.

Whilst Breakwell was sentenced in December 2021 at Isleworth Crown Court, often prolific perpetrators target a number of children, not all of whom come forward to the police or are prepared to speak out until years later.  Samantha Robson who specialises in claims against schools comments, `Young victims are often unable to talk about their painful experiences at the time. In a number of cases involving sexual abuse by teachers, such as convicted teacher Nigel Leat, victims are still coming forward even some 20 years after their abusive experiences. This is because survivors of sexual abuse often suppress their memories of what occurred, usually due to the trauma, or sometimes because of a sense of guilt. One of Breakwell’s victims bought him a box of sweets and therefore felt in some way that she had encouraged him.  This is extremely common in victim behaviour and sexual abuse cases we see patterns, guilt and shame being a very consistent reason for survivors not coming forward until years later.  Their guilt is is totally misplaced as they have usually been groomed for months or years before suffering sexual abuse’.

If you have suffered current or historic sexual abuse, please contact us for expert advice on a free, no obligation and confidential basis. We offer no win no fee agreements and operate 24/7. Please email us on enquiries@robsonshaw.uk or call us on 01392 345333.

Category: Schools