13-year-old boy gets life for raping teacher

A 13-year-old boy who raped his schoolteacher has been detained for life.

The boy, who was 12 at the time of the assault and who cannot be named for legal reason, had been receiving one-to-one teaching lessons from the woman he assaulted, because he suffered from learning difficulties.

The court was told that he raped the teacher during one of the sessions at a special needs centre in County Durham in November 2004.

After the attack, the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, stole the woman's car and drove it for 30 miles before abandoning it in Tyneside.

He pleaded guilty to charges relating to both the rape and the theft of the vehicle at an earlier hearing.

During sentencing at Teeside Crown Court today, Mr Justice Grigson said: "These problems are not of your own making but it is plain that until these problems are dealt with, you are very likely to commit other offences, other offences as serious as this, so the public has to be properly protected until such time as your problems have been assisted."

John Evans, the solicitor who defended the boy, said that he had suffered both physical and sexual abuse from a very young age.

The boy is understood to be one of the youngest convicted rapists in the UK.

(KMcA/SP)