Who Trolled Amber? - The school | Lucky Boy Ep3

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

Chloe hears from a former teacher who seems to support what Gareth believes - that there was a cover-up. And it’s still going on today.You can find out more about Tortoise:Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free contentBecome a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and moreIf you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [e-mail] and produced by: Chloe Hadjimatheou and Gary MarshallSound design: Hannah VarrallPodcast artwork: Lola WilliamsExecutive producer: Basia Cummings Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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TORTURE TORTURE TORTURE Just a warning before we start. This episode includes descriptions of sexual abuse, strong language and references to suicide. Last time on Lucky Boy. I spoke to the school several times and they didn't want to tell me anything. She was just like, they know, they know. And I was like, what do you mean they know?

How do they know? Like, what do they know? I have no interest in a witch hunt on a teacher about something. I'd say that was confirmation, if ever there was confirmation from the school. If the school's covering it up, I think it's maybe because they think it's not a big deal. How can a child of 12 make a mature judgement about something like sex for the first time, which it has not the first idea about, and cannot possibly weigh the consequences of it? A child is able to recognise a pleasurable experience, he is able to recognise a pleasing emotional experience, he is able to express consent.

There's a way I'm beginning to look at this story that separates it into two acts. There's Act 1, what's alleged to have happened in the late 1980s between Gareth and Miss Bowen, how it was handled by individual teachers and the school as an institution. That Christ College, it seems, had asked Sally Ann Bowen to quietly move on before the school and everyone left in it moved on too. The fact that Gareth wasn't able to was left as his problem. That's the first act. And for this part of the story, I'm open to what some of the former pupils have been telling me, that it was a different era

with different ideas and moral standards. The early 80s was a time before children's rights were properly fleshed out, and that meant that some very dark movements were able to get a foothold in the public conversation. A good example? sexuality, pedophiles develop a mutual sexuality with the child, it's an entirely reciprocal relationship. A good example? The Pedophile Information Exchange, or PIE as it was known. It was a campaign group pushing for the age of consent to be lowered to four years old. PIE managed to get coverage on Newsnight on the BBC, arguing that paedophiles had been unfairly demonised. Our political objectives include developing a society where children are given a much higher status than today,

where they are recognised as individuals in their own right, and this includes recognising their right to certain sexual freedoms whilst protecting them. When I found this interview and realised it was on the TV just a few years before Gareth's relationship with Ms Bowen, I was shocked. It made me realise how far our boundaries have shifted since the 1980s. The idea that a paedophile rights activist would be given a platform like this today was just unthinkable. So in some ways, Gareth was a casualty of the era he was born into. Today, our attitudes towards sexual abuse, victims, and perpetrators are very different. Or at least we think they are.

This is when we come to the second act. What's been happening in the last few years since Gareth started his journey towards justice. The question I'm asking now is, could it be that Gareth is still a casualty of that time? Because what he suspects is that most teachers didn't speak up back then and that they're still keeping the truth hidden today. Most teachers, but not everyone. I'm Chloe Hajimathai and from Tortoise this is Lucky Boy. Episode 3 The School He was a very cute looking child and he knew it. And therefore as a result he was quite spoiled and used to getting his own way, but he could be a little monster as well.

Emily's Gareth's older sister. Like Gareth, she's smart and observant, but she's also successful. She has a good life, a job she loves, and she's a mum to great kids. Talking to her is a bit like catching a glimpse of what Gareth's life could have been. His mental health issues mean Gareth can't work, and so this investigation and his obsession with proving what really happened pretty much fills his days. I think what it's done is fossilised him emotionally and not to have been able to move past it with therapy or whatever it is. That's a terrible damage to have happened to somebody. But I've called Emily to ask her about something specific. The last few weeks of the relationship between her brother and Sally-Ann Bowen, just before it all fell apart. Emily wasn't living at home then. She didn't really get on with her mum, Philippa, so after

she left to go to uni, she never went back. I didn't have a relationship with my mother at all, which is why I knew when she called me out of the blue, it was like, okay, something must be up. When that call comes in the summer of 1988, Emily's in Manchester living with friends, and she doesn't have a clue what's been going on with Gareth and his teacher. Were you shocked? Were you shocked when she told you? Absolutely. When I heard it, it was just like, wow, what kind of school is it and why is it not being stopped? Philippa tells her that Christ College School has taken action, that Miss Bowen has been asked to leave

and won't teach again. But the problem hasn't gone away. Because what she suspects is that the long, empty summer holidays present lots of free time for Gareth and Miss Bowen to meet and have sex. So in a moment of desperation, she calls her estranged daughter, Emily. Really, it was like, you know, in extremis. You do something to help, don't you?

There's no particular plan, just the idea that a bit of space away from London might be enough to break the pair up. So they send Gareth to stay with his sister in Manchester. When Emily collects her brother from the coach station, she tries probing him, but he won't admit anything. And then, only days into his stay, one of Emily's flatmates tells her, some strange lady's been calling on the phone for her brother. She knows it must be Miss Bowen. I mean, you know, this woman was only a couple of years older than me and the thought that somebody who was a couple of years older than me

was kind of fancying my baby brother and sleeping with my baby brother was quite repellent to me. So that weekend, Emily waits for the phone to ring. And before her brother can get to it, she picks up. She asked to speak to my brother and I went, oh, okay, well you're speaking to his sister and I know who you are. And I basically told her where to go and I think I said something about leave

my little brother alone. And that was it. There are so many things I wish Emily had asked her. Like why did she think it was okay to have sex with a child? And why was she still contacting him even after it seemed to have cost her her job? But in that moment, Emily's too angry to think rationally. She says her piece and then hangs up without waiting for a response. And it was kind of the brazenness of it really, of assuming that I wouldn't recognise the name, which now I think about it was extraordinarily stupid really, wasn't it? Or was it just so brazen?

I'm still trying to wrap my head around who Miss Bowen is. On one level it seems she knows that having sex with a child is illegal and wrong, or at least socially unacceptable, because Gareth says she keeps warning him to be careful and not tell anyone. But then she acts like they're an ordinary couple, taking him to pubs and openly ringing him for chats when they're apart. In any case, the Manchester Plan hasn't worked. Gareth packs his bag and heads back to London, where his mum, Philipp Philippa tries one last tactic. I had a route around and I found the phone number and I rang up and I asked to speak to her and I said to her that the whole thing had to stop and that it was ridiculous.

And she said, oh nothing's been going on, nothing's been going on. And I said, okay. I said, I'll speak to the police about it. And then she never said another word to me and put the phone down. That was it. She may have threatened to go to the police but actually with both Gareth and his teacher denying it all, Philippa doesn't feel she's got enough evidence. But it's possible that just the threat has an effect because at some point not long after, Miss Bowen decides to end the relationship.

How does she tell you? She told me she was going to a kibbutz in Israel. So she didn't say we have to stop because this is wrong or the schools found out? She was also, she told me when the school found out. But when she ended it she said I'm ending it because I'm going to a gibbetz in Israel and I don't know when I'll be back. Yeah. They have sex one last time and then Miss Bowen closes the door on her 15-year-old lover. How did you feel? Were you devastated? Yeah, obviously.

But also at the same time being devastated, not being able to... It never happened, right? What's there to be devastated about? That was the reality for me. I had to swallow that on my own kind of thing. That's when he really starts to unravel. Because he may be physically equipped to have sex, but he definitely isn't equipped to deal with the emotional fallout. The next time he'll see Miss Bowen will be 35 years later when he's a man of 50 and she's in her mid-60s. But this time they won't be alone.

Just days after Miss Bowen tells him she's going away, Gareth's back at school. A new term started at Christ College. This thing that he had that was so special and all-consuming, it's over. He's angry and hurt and to make matters worse, Ms Bowen may be gone but the rumours are still there. I got in fights because boys called her a slag in front of me. Like, because I would think they were trying to get at me. I heard about this one fight that happened outside school. I hadn't really realised how bad it was until I asked Gareth about it.

And then where did the fight happen? In Edgeworth Tube station, off the Tube, you know, where they buy the tickets. Gareth about it. By this time, we're talking on the phone almost every day. What it took me a while to realise is that Gareth records every single call he makes. He's pretty paranoid and so he wants a meticulous record of what everyone's said to him. I don't know if he's always been like that, but I suspect it's the result of all the gaslighting he feels he's been through. When he eventually confesses to me that he's been recording all our calls, he thinks I'll be upset, but I'm making a podcast so I'm actually pretty delighted and I make him send me all the files. This particular day, I've called him to ask about that awful fight. And I've got in my notes that he spoke to you about Bowen.

I think someone was discussing Bowen, he went, oh, Bowen was just a slag. But yeah, he used to piss me off if someone said that in front of me about Bowen. And he was quite badly hurt? Yeah, I believe so. Not my proudest moment. And like, what, you really hurt him? Yeah, I think I split his skull open. Oh, fucking hell.

Yeah. I think I actually stamped on his head, Chloe, if you really want to know the truth. It sounded like a fucking shotgun going off. Like I said, not my proudest moment. Gareth's out of control. Still, he says the school never tries to find out what's going on with him. None of the teachers ever mention Miss Bowen to him again. Just before Christmas, the school calls his parents in to say if they don't remove Gareth voluntarily, then

the school will expel him. They quietly got rid of Miss Bowen. Now they've quietly got rid of her alleged victim too. The Gareth I've come to know over the last year is a highly perceptive and intelligent man, but he's also someone with anxieties and paranoia. I can see that, but what I couldn't initially put my finger on was how exactly his relationship with an adult woman had led to the problems he has today. Well, obviously it had an effect on me. I mean, we all know that. We all know that a young boy at 14 years old

having sex with a 27-year-old teacher, that's going to have a certain effect on him. Miss Bowen normalized her desires before Gareth could even begin to explore and understand his own. And he says some of her desires before Gareth could even begin to explore and understand his own. And he says some of her desires were quite kinky, but Gareth wouldn't have known that. He had nothing to compare it to. So then, when it came to girls his own age, his expectations would often be frightening for them.

You know, I went for the ones that would develop sexually. You know I didn't go for nice girls after that. Because nice girls weren't where I was at. Like even today I have a huge problem with sex. Yeah sex isn't an emotional thing to me. I don't engage my fucking emotions. Sex is a physical act to me. Then that's not right. But when you introduce the sex the way I was introduced to sex, that your sexual act isn't some kind of secret that's held in a little box where your emotions must stop now because we can't express anything outside this room. By the time he's 16, Gareth's relationship with his mum has broken down completely. All the lies have poisoned things

between them and she asks him to leave home. At this point, Gareth's in a really bad way. That's where self harm comes from as well. I was putting out cigarettes on my hands from when I was 16. I was cutting myself. And it led up to like three suicide attempts before I was 23. But I still have the urges. I've spoken to a lawyer. He and his firm have represented thousands of sexual abuse survivors in legal cases against all sorts of institutions. He's even worked with victims

of Jimmy Savile. And he tells me the average age for his clients to come forward, particularly male clients, is between 35 and 50 years old. It often takes more than a quarter of a century before they're ready to face what happened to them. When his moment comes, Gareth's in his early 40s. Bang on average. He's spent decades holding his secret. He's never admitted it to his mum, though he has confided in a couple of girlfriends and then his wife. For years it's actually been a point of pride that his first relationship was with a much older teacher at school. In my mind for many years, like, that wasn't really her fault. In fact, I probably took

blame for it because, you know, I walked her home, I pursued her, if you like. I didn't have to walk her home, must have been my fault. And I still do that today. I still do it automatic. But things shift. He meets and marries his current partner, someone who's been his rock over the years.

And he adopts her two children when they're still quite young. Fatherhood's something he enjoys and is good at, and it's also something that changes his perceptions. My son became 14 and I could still see his little dimples and his stupefied, all he wanted to do was go and play out and play Xbox with me. Like that hit me hard. I remember thinking actually this woman wasn't your girlfriend, mate. She was sick because what kind of woman

was interested in this boy here? But when I found out that she was teaching, I think I found her on a website for a school. Now, when I found that out, oh no, that's when I got pissy. The assurance Gareth's mum says the school gave her back in 1988 that Sally Ann Bowen wouldn't teach again? It wasn't true. It's taken Gareth a quarter of a century to realise. You've got to remember up until that point, I still felt guilty that someone who had gone to university

trained as a teacher had lost their job forever. That's what I was told. That's what I believed up until 2014, right? Up until then. There isn't one event that tips the scales for him. It's more a slow drip of new information, seen through the shifting lens of a more experienced older man. But the day finally arrives when Gareth's ready to do what his mum wanted

to do all those years ago. He picks up the phone and calls the police. This is when Gareth's story reaches its second act. Did you think she might deny it or did you think she'd admit it? I didn't know to a certain degree, I think so. You thought she would admit it? Did you imagine what she would? I hoped she would. Gareth understands now that he's been badly harmed by what happened to him after Miss Bowen left. He knows the relationship knocked his life off course. But at the same time, he still clings to the idea that what he and Miss Bowen had was something special.

So when he goes to the police, he hopes she might take responsibility for what happened back then. Perhaps put it down to a moment of madness. That's not what happens. I mean, Bowen, by the days that go by, I get angrier and angrier. But you're angry with her for lying? Yeah, of course I'm angry because if she gets her way, I'm turned into the most heinous kind of liar there is. Not just someone that lied over thieving from a shop, someone that's

tried to appropriate the victim of a child abuse victim because she won't accept what she did. This is 2015 and by now Gareth's in his 40s and after finally going to the police, he's not being believed. So now it's on him to prove he hasn't made the whole thing up. The police investigation begins consuming his empty days. He makes long lists of all the teachers he remembers. Each one he's sure can vouch for the fact that he had a thing with Miss Bowen. The police start calling round and speaking to dozens of teachers. he's sure can vouch for the fact that he had a thing with Miss Bowen.

The police start calling round and speaking to dozens of teachers. Des Tinch, the head of year who his mother spoke to, Heather McKysa, Miss Bowen's friend who told him she didn't agree with the relationship, and lots of others. And each time they get hold of someone, they call Gareth to update him. Yeah, there were blows. Each one was a blow. None of them are prepared to say, I saw Gareth with her or I saw, you know, I knew this stuff was going on. But it's a bit hard though, isn't it? Because because they would have to admit, they'd have to admit that they saw it happening and they did nothing.

How do you say that? How do you say I knew? I knew and I did nothing and you're a teacher. No, you can't, but they did know. The police get hold of one teacher, William Roach, who tells them he remembers rumours going around the staff room about Miss Bowen and a student, but he can't remember the kid's name. And an English teacher, Mick Gray, says he remembers Miss Bowen as being very flirty and that there were lots of rumours going around the staff and pupils

that there was something going on between her and Gareth. Mr. Gray hadn't actually witnessed anything himself other than an occasion at the end of term when Gareth and Miss Bowen were both at the same pub. By then Gareth says Miss Bowen had become so brazen about their relationship that in a final act on her last day at the school she took him with her to end-of-year staff drinks. The couple sat at their own table in full view of a whole gang of staff. But when the police tried to find witnesses, everyone they spoke to claimed not to have been there. Now I'm working my own way down that list of teachers.

It's not easy. Some have changed their names after getting married. Others have no online footprint at all or they've died and lots of those I do find have no interest in engaging with me at all. Look, to be honest I don't really want to get involved in it. Is there any reason for that? I mean there's a public... No, no, I just don't want to get involved. I've spoken to a lot of people... I have to say I'm pretty shocked by some of the responses.

It's one thing for former pupils to say they don't want to be involved, but these are teachers, some of whom, like this guy, still work with children. I expected them to feel a certain responsibility, to help with an investigation into potential child abuse that may have happened on their watch. Really, I'm sort of the last person, or virtually the last person you should be asking. Well I think anybody who was there... Well maybe but I don't want to be involved.

OK. Sorry about that but I don't want to get involved. No problem, all the best. Gareth did try to prepare me for it, but still, the uniformity of the response took me by surprise. You know, just human beings are disappointed in it. I mean, I think what's outrageous about it is how many. Oh yeah, mad. One or two. Heather McKisick would be a good one if you could get her to talk

by the way. Yeah. Because she was her best friend. It's a pretty rare name. Heather McKisick, the only teacher who Gareth says ever confronted him back then. These days she teaches in Scotland. I managed to trace her through a hockey club she belongs to. And she tells me what she told the police a few years before, that even though she and Sallyanne Bowen were such good friends, she had absolutely no knowledge of the rumours, and that if she had, she would have reported Ms Bowen immediately. The conversation in the corridor when she apparently told Gareth she knew about the relationship, it didn't happen, she says. But when I tell her everything Gareth's been through since, she says she wants to apologise to him, that she's embarrassed she didn't

protect him because he was vulnerable and she could see that at the time. Even though she says she can't remember any of it, she does seem open to the idea of an interview. And when I tell Gareth he's excited, at least she's engaging. But the next day, Heather McKayzak emails again. Come on, tell me. She just said she's very worried that, you know, she's still teaching and she's worried that association

will taint her in some way. Oh, I can't remember. Like, I mean, McKayzak, whatever, that's all I'll way. Oh, I can't remember. I mean, whatever. That's all I'll say to you. I can still remember when she said that to me. And she stood there and she looked at me. And then the staff from door, the old wooden staff from door. It's difficult for Gareth to swallow

that so many people are contradicting his memories. Fucking they knew. They all knew. I mean, how can the kids know and the staff not? Something went on in that school. Why did they get away with that? Gareth starts thinking that there's something coordinated going on, a concerted effort by the teachers to protect themselves and the school. There's no evidence for that, and frankly it sounds a bit paranoid, except

we now know there is a historical precedent here that institutions like schools have covered up sexual abuse to avoid a scandal, particularly those that feel they have a reputation to preserve. reputation to preserve. Life throws challenges at all of us. But how do we cope? I'm John Robbins and on my podcast I sit down with incredible people to ask the very simple question, how do you cope? We explore the moments that shape them and the ways they've learned to move forward. Whether it's mental health, grief or overcoming fear, we talk about it all honestly and openly. So if you're looking for real conversations about resilience and finding light in the dark, follow How Do You Cope, brought to you by Audible,

wherever you get your podcasts. You haven't read it yet? I haven't read it. I haven't read it. I have no idea what it says. I've been waiting for you and I feel like it's, I thought we should read it together but it's slightly... I'm working from home and I've just jumped on a call with my producer, Gary, because there's been a development. Phoebe from the office just sent me a WhatsApp photo of a large envelope that arrived in the post for me today. And so I said, just open it, I can't possibly wait. And she said, oh, it's very long. And I said, I just don't care, get to the name at the end. What's the name at the end? Because, you know, obviously, I feel like I've

sent out 100 odd letters. So I have no idea. The name is Mr. D. Tinch, Des Tinch, Gareth's head of year. I'd be happy to hear from anyone, but Mr Tinch is near the top of my list. He's the teacher that Gareth's mum, Philippa, says she called in distress when she heard the rumours about Gareth and Miss Bowen. The same teacher who apparently told her the problem would be going away because Sally-Ann Bowen was leaving the school. I've sent him a couple of letters and now he's replied with two long pages covered in flawless, swirly writing. And he's set out his response in neat numbered paragraphs. Yeah, I've got it. I'll just read it aloud first and then we can talk about it.

My producer, Gary, starts've got it. I'll just read it aloud first and then we can talk about it. My producer Gary starts picking through it. One. At no point did any pupil, parent, colleague or senior manager ever confide in me, at the time or thereafter, regarding the allegations you plan to report. Had they done so, I would have made an intervention and reported it. The pupil's U-site would recognise this trait in me. He says Miss Bowen was an iconoclast, a rebel woman pushing boundaries in a male-dominated school. Number four, if there was an internal investigation, then it was private and I was not privy to it.

He says he never heard any rumours. The headmaster at the time, Brian Fletcher, who Sally Ann Bowen told Gareth was one of the men who confronted her about the relationship and then terminated her contract. He was a well respected and beloved leader of the school, he says. He would have acted if it had involved one of my year group. He would have questioned me and asked me to investigate further. He didn't. With respect, I do not wish to be contacted again. You are sincerely D. Tinch.

I mean, that is a pretty robust response to what we have said. Yeah. That is a pretty robust response to what we have said. On the face of it, it feels pretty persuasive. I have to say, if I hadn't spoken to Gareth and if I hadn't been speaking to him for so many months, I would find that really persuasive. The problem is that Gareth's mum is absolutely sure she spoke to him. The letters shaken me a bit. Could Gareth and the women in his family have got this all wrong somehow? So I go back to the only physical piece of evidence from the time, that note the family GP took after speaking with Gareth's mum,

in which it's clear she spoke to the school about the affair with his teacher. In the document that she has from the time, it says she spoke to the school, not specifically Des Tinch. I don't think it says specifically Des Tinch. Her memory is of Des Tinch. Des Tinch. Her memory is of Des Tinch. I'm pretty sure Gareth's going to have a really strong reaction to Mr Tinch's letter, but I brace myself and I send him a copy. A couple of days later, he comes into the studio armed with several A4 pages of notes. He spends hours clinically dissecting what he takes issue with line by line until eventually he needs a break. Go have a fag first. Thank you. Okay. It's only when he stands

up to leave that he finally opens up. I was so upset. I know you were. I sent it to my mum and my sister and said like fucking like what do you think sit down for a sec sit down Gary are you still recording? just tell me about your mum just very quick well i don't know what my mum said but like she wrote what i can't understand is this what's the point in lying at his time of life he is a bad man my mother doesn't call people bad i can't see how he doesn't call people. Bad. I can't see how he doesn't remember calling me in to see him. Hello there. Hi, it's Chloe. Yeah, you tried to phone me, didn't you? Yes I did. Thanks so much for getting back to me.

There's a secret to investigations that most people don't bang on about because it's not very glamorous. It's that you have to be prepared to have lots of really boring, disappointing days. And if you can stick at that long enough, sometimes you hit the jackpot. Right. I'm telling you this because I think it was typical of Miss Bowen. This is someone who was on the staff when this whole story with Miss Bowen was playing out. He's an interesting person but I can tell you almost nothing about him because he's been very clear. He doesn't want to be recorded and he definitely does not want to be identified. I'm calling him George and these

are my recollections of our conversation based on notes I took at the time, so not word for word but pretty close and he's given me permission to have them read by an actor. Would you like a graphic example of something she said to me once? I'd love that. Alright one day I was in the staff room and she was at the other end and she suddenly called across the room and I realized she was trying to get my attention. She shouted, hey what are you doing with your hands under the table? What was she insinuating? Well, very obviously was, you know, you're masturbating. Which was stupid obviously, but that's the kind of level she was on. And I just had this sense that she was headed for trouble. I've heard similar stories about Miss Bowen from some of the former pupils I've spoken

to. One guy told me that during class one day, Miss Bowen took out these Indian-style paintings in which a couple was posing in different sexual positions. It was the Karma Sutra. He assumed she was giving them some kind of sex education lesson. And he says she seemed to really enjoy how shocked the boys were. But this is the first time I'm hearing that she behaved that way with members of staff. Maybe because I haven't managed to speak to many of them. So they're not responding to me and the few I've spoken to I think they probably at very least knew the rumors and they're not even willing to

admit that. I think it's pretty unlikely that they didn't know about the rumors. Yeah I'd probably agree with you on that. Then George tells me something really interesting. That there was a group of female teachers from the English department who were trying to do something about the fact that a colleague of theirs seemed very interested in a 14-year-old boy. There were members of staff who were concerned and I know there were some women in the English department who would have been unhappy with what Miss Bowen was doing. They were trying to help her. I know that's very vague, but they were.

Another teacher I spoke to told me that a colleague of hers did know what really went on back then, but that she and others deliberately kept it within a tight circle and withheld everything they knew from the police. I tried to find that teacher but she died a few years ago so I can't ask her about it. What I find fascinating is that these teachers were trying to intervene but I can't help wondering if they were trying to help Gareth or Sallyanne Bowen and why didn't they think to report it? Could it be that although on one level they knew the relationship was problematic, they just didn't see what was going on between this attractive young woman and her willing pupil as abuse?

I guess you could call me a coward, but I don't want my former colleagues to think badly of me. There's a closing of ranks, then and now. I mean, I think the school was terrible if they allowed Miss Bowen to go on and teach for 35 years. That's awful. So it seems there were members of staff who did know and have hidden it from the authorities. Gareth's right. Whether or not you want to call it a cover-up, teachers have put their own reputations and the schools before anything else. And holding back the truth has allowed

Sally Ann Bowen to continue teaching for 35 years. Three decades during which any one of the teachers who knew could have reported her. Instead, in 2020, six years after he first called the police to press charges, Gareth gets a call. It's the detective in charge of the investigation. He tells him that the Crown Prosecution Service has reached a final decision. Without any witnesses who are prepared to talk, there just isn't enough evidence for it to go to a jury, so they're dropping the case. And where's Sallyanne Bowen at this point? Well, she's head of science at a secondary school just 30 minutes drive from Christ College. I've seen her CV. She spent years

jumping from one school to another, sometimes only staying a few months. 13 different schools in all until she landed this last position. And all those secondary schools? Multiple opportunities to repeat the behaviour. The problem was pushed on from Christ College but had it really gone away? There are so many schools she's taught at though, none of which I have a connection to, so where to start? It turns out I don't have to look that far. Coming up on Lucky Boy. And he said to me, you're not the only one. And then what happened?

It's fair to say things started getting a little bit more inappropriate. I remember those words, you're not the only one. I'll say a few words for the tape so that we have that recorded. My name is Sally-Ann Bowen and I'm the accused teacher in this case. In the past, Sally-Ann Bowen has denied that she ever had any kind of sexual contact with Gareth or any other boy. Lucky Boy is reported by me, Chloe Hajimathau. The producer is Gary Marshall. Additional

production from Rebecca Moore. Sound design is by Hannah Varrell. Original music by Tom Kinsella. Podcast artwork by Lola Williams. The voice actors are Steve King and James Shield. The executive producer is Basher Cummings. If you or someone you know has experienced the issues covered in this episode, there are places you can reach out to. If you have any concerns about a child, then you can contact the NSPCC's helpline by calling 0808 800 5 0 0 0 or emailing help at nspcc.org.uk or visiting their website. Children can contact Childline and talk to an impartial counsellor. No concern is too big or small to discuss. Simply call 0800 11 11 or visit their website for a one to one chat.

For general concerns or talk, adults can contact the Samaritans on 116 123 or email joe at Samaritans.org that's joe at Samaritans.org Life throws challenges at all of us, but how do we cope? I'm John Robbins and on my podcast I sit down with incredible people to ask the very simple question, how do you cope? We explore the moments that shape them and the ways they've learned to move forward. Whether it's mental health, grief or overcoming fear, we talk about it all honestly and openly. So if you're looking for real conversations about resilience and finding light in the dark, follow How Do You Cope? Brought to you by Audible wherever

you get your podcasts.