Paedophile: Teacher Pregnant With 15-year-old Pupil’s Child Faces Classroom Ban, Jailed For Six-and-half Years

By Grâçia Ada Obi

A jailed paedophile teacher could be banned from ever returning to the classroom after a professional conduct panel found her guilty of ‘unacceptable conduct.’

Rebecca Joynes did not attend the conduct hearing, which was told she was responsible for causing ‘enormous damage’ to two pupils. The 31-year-old was jailed for six-and-a-half years in July after having sex with two pupils.

She groomed one 15-year-old boy with a trip to the Trafford Centre, buying him a £345 Gucci belt from Selfridges. She then fell pregnant by another teenage pupil, who she also began a sexual relationship with when he was 15.

Joynes was found guilty of six counts of sexual activity with a child, including two counts of sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust following a trial at Manchester Crown Court.

The offences concerned two teenage boys she met through her job as a teacher at a Greater Manchester school. The boys – and the school – cannot be identified for legal reasons. Today Dec 5, a professional conduct panel hearing concluded she was guilty of ‘unacceptable conduct’, a ruling which could see her permanently barred from returning to education.

Joynes, who is still behind bars, was invited to attend the remote hearing but refused and didn’t have anyone to represent her interests, the panel was told. Shirley Duckworth, representing the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), told the panel Joynes’ convictions were ‘of the utmost severity’ and pointed to her ‘lack of engagement’ in conduct panel proceedings.

Ms Duckworth said Joynes had ‘committed sexual offences against two boys she had direct contact with in the course of her profession’.

Outlining her offending against one of the victims, who she referred as Pupil A, Ms Duckworth said the teacher was responsible for an ‘abuse of trust’ and she pointed out how the trial judge had noted the ‘significant disparity’ in their ages. She had also ‘deleted’ the content of her phone when a investigation began, said Ms Duckworth.

Her offending against the second boy, referred to as Pupil B, was characterised by ‘grooming and an abuse of trust’, said Ms Duckworth. She said ‘the most serious’ aspect of the offending against Pupil B was that it took place while she was on bail for crimes against Pupil A.

The hearing was told Joynes was dismissed for gross misconduct in July 2022 following her first court appearance. Ms Duckworth said police attended the school where Joynes worked in 2021 and informed the principal that an investigation was underway into allegations concerning Pupil A following a complaint to Childline.

The barrister said Joynes couldn’t deny a relationship with Pupil B because of the ‘existence of a child’ which she said was a ‘significant aggravating feature’. Ms Duckworth said that the ‘notion of a Mrs Robinson figure’ was one that ‘permeates’ but she went on that that her crimes against two had had a ‘lasting impact’.

She said fatherhood was ‘thrust upon’ Pupil B, who she said had noted: “I will forever be Rebecca’s victim and will be forever be linked to her through our child.” The purchase of a £345 Gucci belt, she went on, had been a ‘manipulative form of flattery’, adding that Pupil B had ‘felt deceived by a teacher she should have been able to trust’.

She went on: “It’s right to identify Miss Joynes as a paedophile.” It was ‘inconceivable’ that Joynes wasn’t aware she was doing something wrong, she said, adding: The damage done here is enormous.”

After hearing the TRA case, the panel’s chairman Phil Thompson said the panel had concluded Joynes’ behaviour amounted to ‘unacceptable conduct’ and that this had ‘brought the profession into disrepute’.

Ms Duckworth argued the ‘necessary and proportionate’ next step was for the panel to write to the Secretary of State for Education to recommend Joynes was permanently barred from returning to education as her behaviour had been ‘fundamentally incompatible’ with teaching.

Before going into private session to decide whether or not to make such a recommendation, Mr Thompson said if one was made it would take several days before the Secretary of State publicly announced a decision.

Joynes was jailed in July at Manchester Crown Court. Her two victims were referred to as Boy A and Boy B in press reports of the proceedings. The court heard she took Boy A to the Trafford Centre and bought him a £345 Gucci belt from Selfridges, before she took him back to her apartment in Salford, where they had sex.

She was suspended from her post and was later discovered to have fallen pregnant with a second boy – Boy B – who she met when he was aged 15 before they kissed.

The relationship turned sexual, with Joynes falling pregnant and later having his baby, despite telling him it was ‘almost impossible’ for her to conceive due to a health issue. He learned she was pregnant after she planned a ‘date night’ with rose petals and love notes. She also gave him a baby grow with the words ‘I love my daddy to the moon and and back’ on it.

A victim statement read on behalf of Boy B said: “I was coerced, controlled and sexually abused, it was very upsetting this happened to me and I had little to no support from organisations. For months after the abuse it was a very dark time. I felt backed into a corner, I had just lived a double life for 18 months, and it had a massive mental toll on me and my family.

“It tore my family apart, they struggled to come to terms with the fact they brought me to school which was supposed to be a safe environment. My parents broke down every day and night.”

Joynes, who has no previous convictions, denied the offences at trial. Giving evidence over a number of days, she denied any sexual activity with the first boy, but accepted she ‘liked the attention’ he gave her. When asked why she took him to the Trafford Centre before allowing him to stay at her flat, she said: “I was stupid, I don’t know.”

On the second boy, she said nothing happened between them until after he turned 16 and after she had been dismissed. She claimed she was ‘in love with’ the boy and that their relationship was built on a ‘strong friendship’. Jurors heard of a letter in which she told the boy ‘every inch of you is perfect’.

Joynes told the court that 24 hours after their baby was born, she was ‘taken away’ from her. She also kept a baby’s bonnet tucked into her trousers in court. Her defence barrister, Michael O’Brien, said his client suffers from anxiety and depression and that she had been assessed as ’emotionally fragile’ by the probation service.

“The defendant understands her own conduct has seen her miss out on the early years of her baby’s life. The baby will miss out on very important contact with her mother. The defendant understands that’s entirely of her making – and it’s not the baby’s fault,” he said.

“The shorter the time, the better for the baby,” the barrister added. He said the baby was taken from her when they were born and it was ‘harrowing’ for Joynes. Sentencing her, Judge Kate Cornell she had shown ‘breathtaking arrogance’, adding: “You have shown an unwilling inability to face up to wrongdoing. This does you no favours, Ms Joynes.

“You were the adult, the one in control and should have known better. You were trusted by the school, the boys and the parents – for caring and protecting their sons. You abused that trust and exploited that role for your sexual gratification. It is inconceivable you did not realise that too.

“You deliberately transgressed them and encouraged boys to breach that too. You turned a blind eye.” Joynes, of Pensby Avenue, the Wirral, was jailed for a total of six-and-a-half years. Restraining orders against both boys were put in place. Joynes will be on the Sex Offender Register for life.