A former history teacher has been sentenced to two years in prison for indecently assaulting pupils at a south Belfast school in the 1970s. William Lloyd-Lavery, 77, of Richmond Avenue, Lisburn, appeared at Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday, where he was jailed after being found guilty in January of six counts of indecent assault against four girls, including two who were 13 at the time.
Details of the abuse
The assaults occurred while Lloyd-Lavery was in his late 20s and early 30s. He targeted his victims in various locations within the school, including corridors, and lured them to a stationery cupboard and a storeroom. The touching was described as sexual in nature, both over and under their clothing.
One victim described the abuse as a “loss of innocence which would last her to the end of her days,” adding that it “destroyed her faith in teachers.” Another said the assaults changed her, leaving her feeling ashamed and causing sleep problems that led to her sleeping on a mattress on her parents’ bedroom floor and eventually being referred to a child psychologist.
Background and court proceedings
After his teaching career, Lloyd-Lavery worked at Stormont as a researcher, speech writer, and press officer for the Ulster Unionist Party until his retirement in 2017. During the sentencing hearing, he sat in the dock with his head bowed, while several victims sat in the public gallery behind him, hugging each other after the conclusion.
A defence barrister requested a delayed sentence, citing Lloyd-Lavery’s hypertension and increased risk of stroke. However, the prosecution argued that the defendant had consistently denied the allegations and that a suspended sentence would have no effect on him, stating that a medical condition “can’t be a get out of jail free card.”
Judge’s remarks
Judge Patrick Lynch told Lloyd-Lavery that by his actions he “violated that trust in the grossest manner and the court cannot but take the most serious view of these offences.” He commended the victims for coming forward to “expose a paedophile.”
“It may be that Lloyd-Lavery now constitutes no danger to children, but to emphasise that child abusers, or those who may be tempted to abuse children, that they will never be able to rest easy for the crime will or may catch up with them even decades after the perpetration of those crimes,” the judge said. “They will forever be looking over their shoulders in fear of that day of reckoning coming.”
He imposed a single concurrent sentence of two years in prison on all counts.
Police statement
Speaking outside court, Detective Inspector Kelly Foley said: “This man was an opportunist, using his position of power and trust within the school environment to prey on young girls. He thought for a long time he had got away with this, today has proven that the passage of time has no bearing on a criminal justice outcome.”
Foley thanked the victims for their bravery and noted an increase in reports of non-recent child abuse over the last five years, with an average of 76 new referrals each month across the province. “Sentencings like today, I hope, will provide those who have suffered with the confidence to break the years of silence they have endured,” she said.
