Teacher 'had sex with schoolgirl on wife's wedding dress', court hears

Simon Ball denies four counts of indecent assault and five counts of engaging in sexual activity while in a position of trust

The 42-year-old was suspended from the Cambridgeshire school last year (Twitter)

A boarding school teacher had sex with a pupil on top of his wife's wedding dress at his house, a court has heard.

Simon Ball sexually abused three female pupils at one independent school, but escaped prosecution before offending again at a second school, Peterborough Crown Court was told.

He was a teacher at a North Yorkshire school when the first alleged offences happened in the early 2000s, the court heard.

He accepted a job at an independent school in Cambridgeshire while an investigation into the allegations was continuing, was given a positive reference from the North Yorkshire school and was not charged, said Gregory Perrins, prosecuting.

Ball, 42, was suspended from the Cambridgeshire school last year following allegations made by another pupil. He denies a string of indecency and sexual assault charges, but admitted other offences.

Mr Perrins told jurors: "You're going to hear he has pleaded guilty to a number of charges arising out of those allegations.

"Police then had cause to revisit allegations made at his previous school and that's why there's been a significant delay between the offences we say were committed then and 2015."

A girl walked into a police station in 2015 and told officers she had been in a consensual sexual relationship with her teacher, which continued while she was at university, the court heard.

Ball, of Greenwich, admitted five counts of engaging in sexual activity while in a position of trust at the school in Cambridgeshire at a previous hearing, jurors heard.

He denies four counts of indecent assault and five counts of engaging in sexual activity while in a position of trust at the school in North Yorkshire.

The charges, which involve three girls in their early teens, range from holding a girl's hand under a blanket on a school trip to penetrative sex.

Mr Perrins said Ball had sex with one of the girls in different locations and on multiple occasions, including in the school music room and on top of his wife's wedding dress at his house.

Ball has since separated from his wife, who is expected to give prosecution evidence in the trial, Mr Perrins said.

He said Ball joined the North Yorkshire school as a newly qualified teacher straight out of university and got married in a ceremony in the school grounds.

Ball touched two girls inappropriately on a school trip and "groomed" one of the girls in the following years, escalating the abuse, Mr Perrins said.

The court heard that allegations were made at the time but the school's investigation was "seriously lacking".

Mr Perrins said Ball had sex with one pupil in her bedroom while her parents were at home, and on one occasion a condom split and Ball took the girl to get a morning-after pill.

The girl initially denied that the incidents happened as she "thought she was in love with him" but gave her account to police when officers approached her in 2015, Mr Perrins said.

The girl's friend had retracted a statement she gave at the time as she feared it would cost her a friendship, the court heard.

The trial continues.

Press Association