Former teacher jailed for abusing pupils

A former Shetland primary school teacher who was found guilty of indecent behaviour involving pupils has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Stephen Tait, 41, was convicted of six charges involving young boys dating back more than a decade ago.

He denied the offences but was found guilty after a trial at Peterhead Sheriff Court.

Appearing for sentence at Aberdeen Sheriff Court, Tait was told by Sheriff Ian Wallace it had been a "serious breach of trust".

Tait was found guilty by a jury of acting in a lewd, indecent and libidinous manner towards six young boys.

The offences took place while he was a probationary teacher at Bell's Brae Primary School in Lerwick.

Defending, Colin Neilson said Tait accepted a custodial sentence was "inevitable".

He said Tait, now of Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, had latterly been working in the food industry but lost his job as a result of the court proceedings.

Sheriff Wallace told Tait he had been found guilty of "ongoing planned sexual offending" against children in his care while he was a teacher.

He said the evidence had been "clear and compelling" and Tait was unanimously found guilty.

Sheriff Wallace said the victims had been "admirably robust" despite the continuing impact of such offences, which he said also impacted the teaching profession.

Jailing Tait for 30 months, he said the sentence had to mark the serious view taken of such offending against children.

Police Scotland's Det Ch Insp Craig Still said: “Stephen Tait abused his position of trust as a teacher, and I would commend the victims for coming forward and reporting his behaviour to us.

“Investigating events that have happened in the past can present challenges and it can sometimes only be with hindsight that people recognise that what happened to them was abuse.

“We are committed to investigating all reports regardless of when abuse happened, where it took place or who was involved."