Teacher who sexually assaulted pupil wants sentence cut over PTSD – but fails

Teacher who sexually assaulted pupil wants sentence cut over PTSD – but fails Teacher and Army veteran Simon Taylor - who was jailed in January for sexually assaulting a pupil - has lost his bid to shorten his sentence after claiming his PTSD was not taken into sufficient account A former teacher has failed in his bid to shorten his prison term for sexually assaulting a "vulnerable" pupil - after the Court of Appeal rejected his claim that his PTSD should have been given greater weight during his sentencing. Army veteran Simon Taylor was jailed for four years and six months at Norwich Crown Court in January for multiple offences against the teenage girl. Today, Taylor lost his bid to challenge the length of his sentence at the Court of Appeal in London. The offending took place over more than two years, beginning while the victim was a pupil at Hethersett Academy in Norfolk, where Taylor worked as a teacher, and continuing after she had left the school. After the victim reported the offending, Taylor later admitted two counts of sexual assault, including one incident that took place in his car, as well as an offence of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust and two counts of sexual communication with a child. During the appeal hearing, Taylor’s lawyers argued that the sentence was too high and that sentencing judge Andrew Shaw had failed to give sufficient weight to mitigating factors, including Taylor's post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His lawyers said his PTSD stemmed from having part of his right leg amputated after his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in 2009 while he was serving in Afghanistan. But three senior judges dismissed the appeal bid, stating that the victim was "particularly vulnerable" and that Taylor continued his offending despite being warned about his behaviour. Mr Justice Goose, sitting with Lord Justice Foxton and Judge Sylvia De Bertodano, said: "The complainant was a vulnerable child and had been targeted, manipulated and groomed into believing that the applicant was the only adult who cared for her." He continued: "The judge correctly increased the sentence to reflect the totality of the offending, which in our judgment required a significant uplift from its starting point." He added: "We are not persuaded that such a sentence can be described as excessive or wrong in principle. The offences were committed against the background of the applicant’s position at a school, one of very high trust." The judge also said that Taylor contacted the girl on the school’s messaging platform and deleted messages to "destroy" evidence. Taylor, who watched proceedings from HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire, made no reaction as his appeal bid was dismissed. In January, alongside his prison sentence, Taylor was ordered to sign the sex offenders register, made subject to an indefinite sexual harm prevention order and a restraining order, and barred from working with children.