Rebecca Joynes: Teacher found guilty of sexual activity with two schoolboys

Published

1 year ago

May 17, 2024

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A “predator” teacher has been found guilty of having sex with two schoolboys.

Rebecca Joynes, 30, was found guilty of four counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust, following a two-week trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Joynes had denied she had sex with one schoolboy, boy A, and insisted in court that her relationship with a second teenager, boy B, only began once he had left school and she had been fired from her job – so it was not illegal.

Jurors heard that both boys sent Joynes flirty Snapchat messages, and hid the interactions from their parents.

She took boy A – who lied about going to a friend’s house after school finished on a Friday – shopping and bought him a £350 Gucci belt before they went back to her flat in Salford Quays, where they had sex twice, the court was told.

Joynes told the boy, “No one had better find out”.

The next day the court heard the boy’s mother noticed a love-bite on her son’s neck which he dismissed as, “nothing”.

However, rumours began circulating and on the Monday morning police officers were at the school along with boy A’s “distraught” mother who stormed into reception after being told her son had spent the night with a teacher.

Joynes was bailed on condition she have no unsupervised contact with anyone under 18.

The teenager’s semen was later recovered from her bedsheets by police.

Boy B said sexual activity began when he was 15, with kissing and full sex when he was 16 – and still a pupil.

Joynes was already suspended from her high school job when she allegedly kissed and fondled the second, boy B, after sending him a photo of her bottom wearing just a thong, the jury heard.

Boy B later told officers he viewed the relationship as “friends with benefits” and said they regularly had sex while he was still at school.

He said Joynes had told him she could not have a baby and they had unprotected sex.

Boy B told officers the day before Joynes was arrested for a second time, she had planned a “date night”, with “surprises” around the flat – to which he played along with and followed.

At the end it was a baby grow, saying, ‘Best Dad’ on the front.

“I was like, ‘What the f***!'”, boy B told police.

Joynes told the jury she had ruined her “dream job” with stupid “mistakes” by meeting up with the two teenagers and having them back at her flat, but had denied under-age sex.

She said she had come out of a nine-year relationship, was lonely and flattered by the attention.

During the trial, she appeared in court with a pink baby’s bonnet visibly tucked into her trousers.

It belonged to the child she had with boy B.

Joynes wept as she told jurors the baby she had with boy B was taken away from her hours after giving birth and she now has only limited access, three times a week.

Talking about the baby bonnet, prosecutor Joe Allman told the jury in his closing speech: “That was a pretty naked attempt to garner your sympathy.”

Jane Wilson, senior crown prosecutor for CPS North West, described Joynes as a “sexual predator”.

“Joynes was entrusted with the responsibility of teaching and safeguarding children. She abused her position to groom and ultimately sexually exploit schoolboys. Her behaviour has had a lasting impact on them.”

Neither teen can be identified for legal reasons.

Joynes will be sentenced on 4 July.

UK

Man, 53, charged over Liverpool parade incident

Published

14 hours ago

May 29, 2025

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Man, 53, charged over Liverpool parade incident

A 53-year-old man has been charged after a car was driven into a crowd at Liverpool FC’s trophy parade.

Paul Doyle, from the West Derby area of Liverpool, has been charged with seven offences, Merseyside Police said.

The businessman, who is a father-of-three, is accused of two counts of unlawful and malicious wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and two counts of causing unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Doyle is also accused of two counts of attempted unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and one count of dangerous driving.

He is due to appear before Liverpool Magistrates Court on Friday.

The charges relate to six people, including two children. A wounding charge and an attempted grievous bodily harm charge relate to a child.

A police car was outside Doyle’s four-bedroom detached family home in the West Derby area on Thursday morning.

According to his social media, he has travelled extensively including Japan, Fiji, India and Australia. Doyle has posted pictures of himself competing in triathlons, and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

Thousands of fans were gathered in Liverpool city centre on Monday to celebrate the Premier League champions’ title win when a car struck a crowd on Water Street.

Police said a total of 79 people were injured in the incident, with the youngest aged nine, and the oldest being a 78-year-old.

Seven people remain in hospital in a stable condition.

‘Huge volume of evidence’

Chief crown prosecutor for the CPS Mersey-Cheshire, Sarah Hammond, told a news conference on Thursday that the investigation was at an early stage and a “huge volume of evidence” was being reviewed.

“This includes multiple pieces of video footage and numerous witness statements. It is important to ensure that every victim gets the justice they deserve.

“The charges will be kept under review as the investigation progresses.”

Police ‘working tirelessly’

Also at the briefing where the charges were announced was Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Jenny Sims, who said: “I fully understand how this incident has left us all shocked and saddened, and I know many will continue to have concerns and questions.

“Our detectives are working tirelessly, with diligence and professionalism, to seek the answer to all of those questions. When we are able to, we will provide further information.”

UK

Body found in search for missing teenage girl who fell into reservoir

Published

14 hours ago

May 29, 2025

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Body found in search for missing teenage girl who fell into reservoir

A body has been found in the search for a missing teenage girl who fell into a reservoir, police have said.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed they recovered a body from the Baitings Reservoir, near Ripponden, on Thursday afternoon.

A formal identification is yet to take place, but police believe the body to be that of the missing teenage girl.

The girl’s family have been informed.

Emergency services were called to the reservoir at 1.17pm on Wednesday following reports that a teenage girl had fallen into the water from Baitings Dam.

Police, fire and ambulance crews, as well as an underwater search team, were deployed to the scene for the search, which continued on Thursday until a body was found.

Detective Inspector Laura Hall of Calderdale’s Safeguarding Team said: “While formal identification is yet to take place, the girl’s family have been informed and are being supported by specially-trained officers.

“My thoughts go out to her family and friends at this very sad time.

“Our enquiries are continuing into the death in order to establish exactly what happened yesterday, but we do not believe it to be suspicious.”

UK

Ages of youngest and oldest Liverpool crash victims released

Published

15 hours ago

May 29, 2025

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Ages of youngest and oldest Liverpool crash victims released

The youngest victim injured in the Liverpool parade crash on Monday is nine years old, police have said.

They added that the oldest is 78, with all 79 people injured understood to be British. Seven remain in hospital in a stable condition.

Merseyside Police declined to say what drug the 53-year-old man arrested over the incident is alleged to have taken.

“We wouldn’t go into this detail at this stage of the investigation,” the force said.

Police are still questioning the driver and were granted further time to do so on Wednesday.

Officers have until Thursday evening to question the man from West Derby.

He is in custody on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug driving.

Police believe the car which struck pedestrians was able to follow an ambulance crew attending to someone suffering a heart attack after a road block was temporarily lifted.

Hundreds of thousands of Liverpool fans had turned out to celebrate their team’s Premier League title when the incident unfolded on Water Street just after 6pm on Monday.

‘The best day of my life turned into worst’

Sky News interviewed a lifelong Liverpool fan who said his five-month-old son was “bounced” 15ft (4.6m) in his pram after they were hit by the vehicle.

The child was not counted in the police’s injury tally.

Daniel Eveson, 36, also said his partner had been driven over.

“The best day of my life turned into [the] worst,” Mr Eveson said.

He added: “Me and my partner were flat on the roof, on the bonnet… we were just both trying to hold on for dear life with Ted next to us.

“And my partner went under the wheels of the car, of the front of the car, and it rolled over her leg, and I just bounced off to the side, but my boy and his pram got bounced totally in the opposite direction – about 15ft down the road.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer travelled to Liverpool to meet with police chiefs and the local metro mayor.

He said he was being kept informed of developments, adding: “The scenes on Monday were just awful, to see how incredible joy at an amazing achievement turned to horror in a moment.”

Messages of support have been sent to the people of Liverpool, including from the King who said: “I know that the strength of community spirit for which your city is renowned will be a comfort and support to those in need.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales said they were “deeply saddened” by the incident.