Teacher jailed for 1970s schoolboy sex attacks

A teacher who sexually abused two teenage schoolboys in the 1970s was jailed for three and a half years today.

Jeff Morrell, 65, was found guilty of 12 counts of sexual assault involving two pupils aged 14 and 15, committed over a period of two years.

Judge Martin Stephens at the Old Bailey told him: "These offences constitute as flagrant a breach of trust as could be contemplated.

"You bear a heavy responsibility for the shameful way you took advantage of 14 and 15-year-old boys who were committed to your daily care by parents who were entitled to expect that their children would be safe."

Morrell, of Teddington, west London, was head of year at Stockwell Manor School in south London, where he had worked from 1973 to 1983.

He was forced to resign following a disciplinary hearing into his relationship with another boy at the school and became a taxi driver.

Later that year he was convicted of gross indecency with a rent boy and placed on a register of teachers who had committed sexual assaults.

The court heard that one of the boys Morrell abused had complained to another teacher but nothing was done to stop the assaults.

Both victims told police they were kept in for "detention" and found themselves locked in Morrell's office.

Morrell also visited one of the boys at home and took him back to his own.

Linda Strudwick, prosecuting, said: "He used his position of authority and his proximity to schoolboys to target young boys who were vulnerable."

The offences came to light more than 30 years later when one of the men who had been a victim told his family, Miss Strudwick said. After his arrest, Morrell accused them of lying.