Graham Gilmour – Jailed for 14 years – Gregg School and Lakeside School

A 43-YEAR-OLD support worker from Bournemouth has been jailed for 14 years for sexually abusing two schoolboys.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Graham Gilmour, of Branksome Wood Road, had left his two victims scarred for life.

Gilmour was employed at two Hampshire schools, teaching children and being paid to give extra lessons to those that needed more help.

The court heard how one of his victims was aged 11-12 when Gilmour befriended him in “a highly inappropriate way” before carrying out a serious sexual assault which the court heard was “tantamount to rape” on him in the school library.

The boy, who was subjected to further sexual assault before the age of 13, was too young to even know or understand what was happening to him, Judge Gary Burrell QC said.

Prosecutor Rebecca Fairbairn told how the second victim was a pupil at a different school and suffered multiple sexual assaults at the hands of Gilmour, some of which happened during a maths class and others while the boy was alone in a car with him.

Mitigating for Gilmour, Michael Hall, told how his client was a man of previous good character and the offences, as “as serious as they are” happened over the course of three years.

Mr Hall said: “Mr Gilmour did in fact do an awful lot of good work with some of his pupils and it is a shame that what could have been a career in which he excelled has been marred by a few events.”

But jailing him and barring him from ever having unsupervised contact with a child, Judge Burrell told Gilmour that what he had done would live with his victims for the rest of their lives.

He said: “You have caused so much anguish to both boys and their families. You were supposed to be looking after them, not abusing them.

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“You forced both of them in to facing their sexuality at far too young an age and they have both been emotionally scarred by that.

“You were a grown man and should have known better. There were plenty of people warning, including your colleagues, at that time.”

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Gilmour was handed 10 years for the serious sex assault and a further four years for a sexual assault as well as individual sentences for each of the remaining eight counts he was found guilty of which will run concurrently.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life and banned from working with children indefinitely.

If you or a loved one have been subject to abuse please do not hesitate to contact our specialist child abuse team. We will treat any communications with the strictest of confidence.