Safeguarding News for August 2026
Dear Colleague
Welcome to the SAFEcic monthly newsletter.
September is here and with the summer holidays behind us, many are now 'getting to grips' with work-laden post-holiday inboxes and increased to-do lists! Now might be an ideal time for safeguarding teams across all organisations to add an extra task near the top of that list and take a fresh look at existing safeguarding policies and procedures - especially important for those in education with the updated Keeping Children Safe In Education 2026 that came into effect on 1st September.
August may have been quieter in some respects, however there was no shortage of safeguarding developments to keep us busy. Fromlegislation, research, consultations and regulatory action, to the ever-evolvingchallenges of online safety, the month brought plenty of reminders thatprotecting at risk groups remains a shared responsibility across charities, schools,health services and the wider community.
Elsewhere in this month’s round-up, we take a look at thekey developments, responses and actions from last month, highlight some issues worthy of note, and finish—as always—with some key reasons to remain vigilant.
So, grab a coffee, settle back in, and scan what safeguarding news mighthave been relevant to your organisation.
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Legislation

1. Raneem’s Law: Dyfed-Powys Police set to strengthen domestic abuse response with new Home Office funding
Dyfed-Powys Police is one of twelve police forces introducing enhanced support for victims of domestic abuse with the second phase rollout of “Raneem’s Law”, funded by the Home Office.
Commencing from August, the new measure sees a specialist Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) embedded within the Force Communication Centre (FCC) to strengthen the police response to domestic abuse victims from the first point of contact.
Raneem’s Law was established in memory of Raneem Oudeh and her mother, Khaola Saleem, who were murdered in 2018 after repeated calls to police for help. The Home Office initiative aims to embed domestic abuse specialists within police control rooms across England and Wales, helping forces identify risk earlier and improve safeguarding for victims.
The initiative is supported by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for Dyfed-Powys, who hold the Home Office grant, and Calan Domestic Violence Services (Calan DVS), who will provide a full-time Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA) for the role.
For more than 70 years, Calan DVS has provided specialist support to victims and survivors of domestic abuse and sexual violence across South, Mid and West Wales. Their IDVAs work with those at the highest risk of harm, providing independent advocacy, safety planning, emotional support and practical guidance while helping victims navigate the criminal justice system and access the services they need.
As part of Raneem’s Law, the IDVA will work alongside FCC staff to provide expert advice on domestic abuse incidents reported to the police, helping to identify high-risk cases and ensure sufficient safeguarding measures are considered at the earliest opportunity.
This latest initiative will operate alongside the force’s Domestic Abuse Virtual Response Unit (DAVRU) which offers victims of non-urgent domestic incidents the opportunity to speak with a police officer through a video call.
Together, the introduction of the IDVA into the communication centre and the continued use of the video-calling service will ensure a more specialised service for victims of domestic abuse across all risk levels.
Research, Plans, Consultations, Responses and Actions

1. Family Voice Project: final research report
The final research report for the Family Voice Project – a cross-government project drawing on engagement with families and work with local areas to explore the experiences of families accessing family support services.
The report details work across 2 workstreams:
- a national delivery workstream, focused on facilitating networks to better understand the lived experience of children, young people, parents and carers
- a local delivery workstream, focused on developing new and more effective routes for families to influence local service delivery across family support and early help at local authority level
The Supporting Families spend evaluation: final report is also available.
Regulatory Bodies

Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Products
MHRA reaffirms the safety of childhood vaccination
Vaccination is one of the most effective and safest ways to protect against many serious infectious diseases
Dr Alison Cave, Chief Safety Officer at the MHRA, said:
“Multiple large, well-conducted studies involving millions of children worldwide have consistently demonstrated that there is no evidence that vaccines cause autism in children.
“Vaccination remains one of the most effective and safest ways to protect against serious and potentially life-threatening diseases, supported by decades of scientific evidence in the UK and internationally.
“The benefits of vaccination are endorsed by the NHS and all major UK public health and paediatric bodies as part of the recommended routine childhood vaccination schedule.
“All vaccines approved for use in the UK undergo a rigorous assessment of their safety, quality and efficacy and once approved for use, we continuously monitor their safety through robust surveillance systems, real-world data, and international evidence.
“We encourage parents to follow NHS guidance on vaccination and speak to a healthcare professional if they have any questions.
“Patient safety is our top priority. We encourage anyone to report any suspected side effects to us via the MHRA Yellow Card scheme.”
National Autistic Society’s response to President Donald Trump's executive order on vaccine President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to reduce the number of childhood vaccines in America and separate the MMR vaccine. National Autistic Society’s response to his comments about autism and the MMR vaccine is included below.
National Autistic Society’s response
Mel Merritt, Head of Policy and Influencing at the National Autistic Society, said:
“Let’s be clear - the MMR vaccine is safe. It’s utterly disgraceful that yet again we must correct dangerous misinformation from President Donald Trump. It’s been proven for decades that vaccines are safe and a huge amount of new research has also shown there is no link between the MMR vaccine and autism, including new analysis by the World Health Organisation.
“Autism is a lifelong neurodivergence and disability which influences how people experience and interact with the world. Misinformation about autism only distracts from the conversations we should be having about how to tackle the huge inequalities autistic people face across all aspects of their lives and provide the support they need. For evidence-based information about autism and vaccines, visit the National Autistic Society website at www.autism.org.uk.”
Further information
- Read more about autism.
- Find out more about the causes of autism.
- Join our Truth. It Matters campaign.
- Read NHS information about the MMR vaccine.
- Read our previous response to President Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jnr’s false claims about autism.
A company and its directors have been convicted and sentenced for operating unregistered children's homes in Kent following a criminal prosecution brought by Ofsted.
The directors of Catalyst Care Limited were repeatedly warned by Ofsted that they were breaking the law yet continued operating contrary to the legal requirements for registration. During this time, the homes received over £1.7 million in payments from placing authorities.
Catalyst Care Limited, and its directors, Davidson Lynch-Shyllon and Miriam Ekathor, pleaded guilty to all charges at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on 9 March 2026. On 4 August 2026, they were fined a total of £92,400 for operating 3 unregistered homes in Kent between October 2022 and April 2025, providing accommodation for 9 children. They were also ordered to pay victim surcharges totalling £2,960 and costs of £17,250.
Lynch-Shyllon and Ekathor were also disqualified from carrying on and/or managing or having a financial interest in a children’s home.
All children’s homes in England must register with Ofsted and carrying on or managing a home without registration is a criminal offence. Unregistered children’s homes operate outside of independent and regulatory oversight, meaning the children placed there have no assurance of safe or suitable care. There are no guaranteed checks on staff or living conditions, or accountability when things go wrong. Worryingly, many children placed in illegal homes are often those with the most complex needs.
Criminal investigations into these places are complex and the legal threshold for prosecution is high. Yesterday’s case is the first successful prosecution of its kind but follows hundreds of warnings issued by Ofsted over the use of unregistered provision, which has grown partly because not enough registered homes are in the right location or have staff with skills to effectively care for children with complex needs. Illegal unregistered providers frequently charge local authorities exorbitant fees, further exploiting a system already under strain.
Ofsted has recently been granted new powers through the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act to help tackle illegal children’s homes. They include the introduction of financial penalties, which will allow Ofsted to issue fines to illegal children’s homes.
Ofcom and all Online Safety

1. Man jailed for online child sex offences
A 38-year-old man who was issued with a Sexual Risk Order (SRO) while under investigation for online child sex offences has been jailed for more than four years.
Liam Pink, formerly Kettering, was issued with the civil order in October 2022 at Northampton Magistrates’ Court which are used to manage those who pose a sexual harm risk to the public.
Northamptonshire Police applied for the SRO after Pink’s arrest on suspicion of attempting to cause/incite a girl under 13 to engage in a sexual activity and attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
This followed allegations from an online activist group that between August 12 and 28, Pink had engaged in an online conversation, exchanging explicit messages of a sexual nature, with a 12-year-old girl. However, she didn’t exist and was in fact a decoy.
The five-year SRO was issued with certain conditions he was required to abide by, including not having unsupervised contact or communication with any child under the age of 16, not using any social media account unless in the name of Liam Pink and not using any device capable of accessing the internet without notifying police.
During a routine visit on April 9 this year, officers from Northamptonshire Police’s management of sexual offenders and violent offenders (MOSOVO) team, which closely manage sexual and violent offenders, arrested Pink after an examination of his mobile phone found that he had breached the SRO three times.
Between January 1 and March 31, there was evidence to suggest that he had had contact with a child under the age of two without the parent’s knowledge of his order. He had also failed to notify police about a social media account that he had set up using a different name.
Pink was subsequently charged with the three breaches of the SRO as well as the online child sex offences that he was under investigation for and on June 3, he pleaded guilty to all five offences at Northampton Magistrates’ Court.
His case was sent to Northampton Crown Court for sentencing, and on July 13, he was jailed for four years and four months and issued with an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
2. Com group member sentenced for campaign of abuse against 117 victims worldwide
A man from Leeds who forced more than 100 victims into sexual activity and self-harm as part of a Com group, including them carving his online username into their bodies, has been sentenced to two years in prison after a National Crime Agency investigation.
NCA officers started an investigation into Justin Swaddle, 20, from Leeds, in January 2024.
Swaddle was first arrested by West Yorkshire Police in October 2023 for offences including possession, making and distribution of indecent images.
His digital devices were seized and his online presence was investigated. Swaddle was active across social media platforms including Snapchat, Telegram and Discord using usernames including 'Epstein', 'Rugen' and 'Moscow'.
NCA officers took over the investigation and examined the content of his phone and computer, finding hundreds of conversations, all of which involved young females and were of a sexual nature.
Investigators found Swaddle, who was 17 at the time of the offending, was operating in a Com group, a community of people online committing criminality including coercing victims to physically harm or sexually abuse themselves.
Com groups have an international membership and use online channels from messaging apps to gaming platforms to commit their crimes.
Offenders and victims are usually in the same groups, and offenders are usually not motivated by money or sexual gratification but by the status and notoriety that comes with sharing shocking content with other members.
The NCA identified a total of 117 female victims worldwide, aging from 13 to 17, and with eight in the UK that Swaddle had been in communication with.
Using the NCA's International Liaison Officer network, investigators worked with law enforcement partners in the USA, Canada, Australia, Norway and New Zealand to speak to and safeguard victims.
Swaddle was charged with a number of child sexual abuse offences and blackmail. He pleaded guilty to all offences at Leeds Crown Court on 2 July.
He was sentenced at the same court on 10 August to two years in prison. He will be subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 10 years and is required to sign the National Sex Offenders Register.
Children and young people are better protected when they have adults around them who they feel they can trust, talk to and won't be blamed by. Regular, open and honest conversations create environments where young people can disclose concerns.
Education professionals can find a range of lesson plans and resources to protect under 18s from online sexual abuse at: www.ceopeducation.co.uk/professionals
Parents and carers can find information, advice and resources to use at home with their children at: www.ceopeducation.co.uk/parents
Under 18s concerned about their own sexual behaviour or thoughts can find help and advice at: www.shorespace.org.uk
The Kids Online Safety Campaign provides guidance for parents on how to talk to their children about online content, support critical thinking and their ability to spot misleading or false content - www.kidsonlinesafety.campaign.gov.uk
3. Important Updates to Keeping Children Safe In Education 2026
From their perspective on Internet Safety UKSIC have published a blog on their understanding of internet Safety and Keeping Children Safe in Education September 2026. It is replicated below.
‘The Department for Education has just released the latest Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2026 that came into effect on 1st September 2026. While many of the changes build on existing expectations, the latest guidance includes important updates around filtering and monitoring, strengthens accountability, brings emerging technologies into sharper focus, and reinforces that safeguarding responsibility must be led at a strategic level.
One of the most encouraging aspects of KCSIE 2026 is how closely it reflects concerns and recommendations that have been highlighted by the UK Online Harms Early Warning Working Group (EWWG). Earlier this year, UKSIC published guidance to help education settings protect children’s images from AI manipulation and abuse, following evidence that perpetrators were using images from school websites and using AI tools to create abusive content and facilitate blackmail attempts.
It is therefore excellent news to see many of these emerging risks now reflected within KCSIE’s statutory framework. For schools, this means that advice previously delivered through sector guidance is increasingly being reinforced through statutory safeguarding expectations.
- Annual Filtering and Monitoring Reviews Are Now Explicitly Required
- Stronger Accountability and Leadership Oversight
- Recording and Evidencing Checks
- Artificial Intelligence Moves Further Into the Safeguarding Framework
- Consistent Terminology Around “Nudes and Semi-Nudes”
- Cyber Security Recognised as a Safeguarding Issue
- Preparing for September
As schools prepare for implementation from September 2026, UKSIC encourages schools to review their current strategies and ensure these new considerations are factored into their processes.’
Worthy of Note

1. Violence-fixated children referred to Prevent, and then sent back again – Children’s Commissioner demands reform of anti-extremism programme
Two-thirds of Prevent referrals for children made by schools and colleges were returned to education settings – and in almost all of these the cases (93 per cent) the children received no support from Prevent.
The Children’s Commissioner’s latest report draws on new data, interviews with professionals and new analysis of official figures to reveal the journeys taken by children in the government’s counter extremism programme.
The study describes a system with a great deal of worry about children, seeking somewhere for them to get help, or someone to hold responsibility for them, and not finding it.
Dame Rachel de Souza recommends that children currently sent to Prevent should be assessed through local safeguarding teams – which should include Counter Terrorism Policing – and directed to the right support.
The call to action comes as Phase 2 of the Southport Inquiry prepares to examine the ‘adequacy of arrangements in England and Wales for managing the risk from violence fixated individuals’ following question raised about Prevent in the first phase
- Increasing referrals
The Children’s Commissioner’s report shows the number of Prevent referrals involving children has increased substantially from 2,918 in 2016-17 to 4,715 in 2024-25.
The Prevent programme is part of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy that focuses on preventing people from being drawn into terrorism.
The Commissioner’s report makes clear that, while Prevent plays an important role in tackling radicalisation, it may not always be the right pathway for children whose needs are rooted in wider vulnerabilities. Key findings include:
- Rising referral numbers: Referrals to Prevent involving children have risen from 2,918 in 2016-17 to 4,715 – the highest figure in this period. Last year, 8,778 referrals were made to Prevent in England and Wales, of which more than half (54 per cent) involved children.
- No clear ideology: The majority of children (71 per cent) had no specific identifiable extremist ideology, including those with no ideology identified, no ideology but ‘other susceptibility to radicalisation’, multiple ideologies with no dominant ideology, or a fascination with extreme violence or mass casualty attacks. Referrals without a clear ideology were less likely to progress through Prevent than those with defined ideology.
- Repeated referrals: Some children have been referred to Prevent multiple times. Between April 2016 and March 2025, 91 per cent of children were referred once, and the remaining nine per cent (1,136 children) were referred at least twice. Less than 190 children (approximately 1.5 per cent) were referred three times or more.
- Referrals often closed without support: Nearly four in five referrals involving children (79 per cent) were closed without progressing through the Prevent programme. Almost three in five referrals came from education settings. Of these, at least 65 per cent were referred back to an education setting when the case was closed, 93 per cent of which never progressed through the programme.
- Concerned about wider vulnerabilities: Professionals described children being exposed to extremist and violent content online, often without developing a fixed ideological belief. Many children referred were vulnerable to exploitation, bullying or unstable home lives, leading to professionals questioning whether Prevent was the appropriate response.
The Commissioner’s report also found that information on children’s mental health and neurodevelopmental needs was missing from 60 per cent of referrals. Where conditions were recorded, autism accounted for 16 per cent of conditions in referrals, whereas the estimated prevalence among all school-aged children is around three percent.
Following the Southport attack, Phase 1 of the national independent inquiry examined the failure to identify the risk posed by Axel Rudakubana. Phase 2 is examining what changes are needed across agencies and services to prevent similar atrocities.
Dame Rachel argues that identifying children at risk of violence or radicalisation must remain a priority, but children should receive support through the pathway best suited to their individual circumstances. Her report aims to inform that inquiry and has made the following recommendations:
- Better data to understand children’s experiences including the introduction of a consistent unique childhood identifier, regardless of whether a child comes into contact with social care, to ensure opportunities to share data and information are not lost. The Home Office should also strengthen data collection so children’s journeys through Prevent can be tracked and outcomes better understood.
- The Home Office and Department for Education should issue joint statutory guidance on children who pose a risk to others. This should require that all children where there is a concern that they might commit violence or other forms of harm – because they are violence fixated, drawn into terrorism, or because of concerns about criminality – are referred to the Multi Agency Child Protection team – which should include Counter Terrorism Policing where needed – in the child’s local area.
- Stronger online protections to address the risk of children being drawn into radicalisation or becoming fixated with violence. The government should restrict technology companies from accessing children until they can prove they have highly effective safeguards to protect children from harm.
- Improved support for children with complex needs including children with neurodevelopmental needs, trauma and other vulnerabilities who may fall between services.
2. Victims and survivors of rape and sexual abuse to be supported
Victims-survivors of rape and sexual abuse will get 24/7 support through a free, trauma-informed, confidential helpline thanks to new Government funding.
The Ministry of Justice has announced it has awarded £8.7 million to Rape Crisis England & Wales to continue their vital around-the-clock Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line.
Free to use, the helpline offers confidential emotional and listening support to all victims and survivors of rape and sexual abuse aged 16 and over.
Since it launched in 2022, the service has supported survivors through more than 200,000 calls and 75,000 webchats.
This funding reflects the Government’s commitment to tackle these horrendous crimes and support victims.
The Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor have also barred rape, certain child sex and other grooming offences from upcoming changes to prison sentences, protecting the public from these dangerous criminals.
The changes mean rape and certain child sexual offences will be added to the exclusions that are already in place for 18,000 offenders, including those who have been found by a court to be the most dangerous or anyone serving a life sentence.
The Government is also injecting more than half a billion pounds into vital support services to help victims and witnesses through the justice process. This will see a £550 million investment over the next three years into specialist services that offer practical and emotional support to victims and witnesses, such as counselling and advice on attending court.
Further information
- Rape Crisis England &Wales’s 24/7 Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Line is for anyone aged 16 and over in England and Wales who has been affected by rape, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, or any other form of sexual violence – at any point in their life. You can contact the service at any time, day or night, all year round, on 0808 500 2222.
- The new grant funding will run from 1 October 2026 – 30 September 2029.
Reason to Remain Vigilant

1. Tonbridge sex offender is jailed
Speedy investigative work by officers helped identify a victim of a repeat sex offender from Tonbridge whilst he was in custody.
Luis Clifton was arrested on 22 April 2026 on suspicion of breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO), following an unannounced visit by officers to his home address.
Devices were seized including a phone, which he was not permitted to have.
Whilst he was being interviewed in custody, specialist officers trawled through his phone and found the 22 year old had been communicating with an underage teenage girl on a social media app.
This was a further breach of his SHPO and the investigators pursued immediate lines to identify the vulnerable victim. She was contacted along with her parents and provided evidence of further offences.
2. Jail for paedophile snared by activist group
A man who shared explicit images of himself with what he mistakenly thought was a 14-year-old girl has been jailed.
Iain Fleming, 53, began communicating with the account in March last year, not knowing it was a decoy run by an online child abuse activist group.
Despite the “girl” telling Fleming she was only 14 several times, he continued sexual communication with her and sent explicit images of himself.
Police were contacted by the child activist group, and officers swiftly arrested Fleming at his Peterborough home.
After seizing his mobile phone, it was also revealed Fleming had contacted what was believed to be a 15-year-old girl. Again, Fleming continued with explicit conversations, telling her she had a beautiful body and that he wanted to kiss her all over.
At Peterborough Crown Court on 7 August, Fleming, of Millfield, Peterborough, was jailed for three years and two months after admitting to two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and one count of attempting to incite a girl to engage in sexual activity.
For more on child abuse, including how to report it and spot the signs, please visit the dedicated pages on the force website.
3. Man sentenced for rape and sexual abuse of girl in East Sussex
A man who groomed a teenage girl and raped her has been jailed for 19 years.
George Scott, 39, pressured the victim for non-recent sexual activity in East Sussex.
The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has described how the abuse has had a “devastating and lifelong impact”.
Scott, of Crowborough, was found guilty of 11 offences after trial, and appeared before Lewes Crown Court on 31 July.
He was sentenced to 19 years in prison, and must serve an extra two years on licence when released as part of an extended sentence.
It means he must serve at least two thirds of the sentence before he can be considered for parole, and could still be recalled to prison to serve the remainder of the sentence for an extra two years.
The court also imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for 25 years, which will restrict Scott’s unsupervised contact with children and access to computers or mobile phones without permission.
He was put on the sex offenders register indefinitely, and the court also imposed a restraining order not to contact the victim which will last until a further order is made.
The court was told how the non-recent offences related to Scott’s activities as a golf instructor. He groomed the victim, a girl under the age of 16, to commit sexual offences.
These included eight counts of sexual assault by penetration, one count of intentionally causing a girl under 16 to engage in non-penetrative sexual activity, one count of causing a girl under 16 to watch a third person engaging in sexual activity, and one count of being an adult in a position of trust who sexually touched a girl under the age of 18 on multiple occasions.
4. Sex offender jailed after targeting vulnerable child
A man has been jailed for 19 years for multiple sex offences against a vulnerable young child, leaving her with ‘trauma for life’.
Trevor New-Watts, 57, of Norwich, was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court on Friday (14 August 2026). He had previously denied committing his crimes but following a nine-day trial in July was found guilty of two counts of rape of a child, four counts of sexual assault of a child and two counts of causing a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity.
Police launched an investigation on 6 December 2022 after receiving a call from a relative of the victim, a vulnerable young girl who had disclosed multiple offences against her. The girl had used drawings to explain where she had been touched and what had happened to her. All offences took place between August 2021 and December 2022.
Officers arrested New-Watts the same day and seized his mobile phone - further devices were also seized from his home address. Searches were found on his phone asking how long DNA evidence would last on his body. When New-Watts was questioned by police, he gave a 'no-comment' interview.
If you would like to report a sexual offence, call 999 in an emergency. 101 is the non-emergency police number to report a crime.
5. Convicted sex offender back behind bars
A convicted sex offender has been jailed after breaching a strict court order by meeting up with children.
Jason Baker, 36, flouted a sexual harm prevention order (SHPO) by contacting two 15-year-old girls.
The order was imposed in 2017 when he was given a four-year jail sentence for a sexual offence on a girl under 13.
He breached the notification requirements of the order and received a two-year community order in June 2025.
However, in September that year, he also met up with the two girls near to where they lived in Soham on multiple occasions and offered them drugs.
Police were informed and Baker, of no fixed address, was arrested.
He was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison at Cambridge Crown Court on Tuesday (25 August) after admitting three counts of breaching a SHPO, two of supplying class A drugs and one of making an indecent image of a child.
6. Men jailed for controlling prostitution for gain in Northamptonshire
Two men have been jailed after being convicted of controlling prostitution for gain in Northamptonshire.
Yong Wang, aged 52, of Northampton, was sentenced to 17 months' imprisonment, while Chang Xian Wu, aged 42, of Bournemouth, was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.
The pair were sentenced at Northampton Crown Court on Friday, August 21, after pleading guilty.
The convictions followed an investigation by Northamptonshire Police into the operation of brothels within the county.
Detective Inspector Carrie Powers, of Northamptonshire Police's Serious and Organised Crime Team, said: "The exploitation of vulnerable people for financial gain will not be tolerated in Northamptonshire.
Anyone who has concerns about exploitation or suspicious activity linked to organised crime can report information to Northamptonshire Police online at www.northants.police.uk or by calling 101. In an emergency, always call 999.
7. Former Bexhill teacher convicted of multiple sexual offences against a pupil
A former East Sussex high school teacher has been convicted of raping and sexually assaulting a pupil at his school.
In 2021, Sussex Police received intelligence that Steven Hardie, a former teacher at Bexhill High School had groomed and sexually abused pupils while working at the school.
Hardie, 65, of Bexhill, was a science teacher at the school – now called Mulberry Academy Bexhill – between 1991 and 2007, when he was dismissed after receiving a police caution for grooming a female pupil. This conviction relates to a different victim.
Following the receipt of intelligence in 2021, police seized Hardie’s electronic devices and found sexual messages between himself and a pupil at the school during his tenure.
Now a woman in her 30s, the victim was contacted by police and disclosed sexual abuse by Hardie starting when she was 15 years old, and reported being raped by him on two occasions after she had left the school.
Hardie was arrested and charged with two counts of rape, four counts of indecent assault and three counts of indecency with a child.
Following a trial at Lewes Crown Court concluding on Tuesday (25 August), Hardie was found guilty of all but one count of indecency with a child.
He has been remanded in custody to await sentencing at the same court on Monday, 26 October.
Finally
Be aware of TV Licensing scam email
A scam email which tells you that your TV Licence payment has failed, encourages you to follow a malicious link to make payment.
The email threatens a £1,000 fine, but the link directs you to a fraudulent TV Licensing website designed to steal your personal and financial information when you enter them.
Scam emails like this can be reported by forwarding them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and websites to the National Cyber Security Centre
To see a copy of the fake email and other recent scams The latest scam alerts from Which?


