A FORMER Solihull teacher who is wanted by courts in England and Scotland has been jailed in his absence for sexually abusing a boy on a school trip more than 30 years ago.
Roderick Beaumont had been granted bail after pleading not guilty to two charges of indecently assaulting the nine-year-old boy around 1980.
But when the 62-year-old from Braehead, Methvan Walk in Dundee, failed to turn up for his trial at Warwick Crown Court, he was tried in his absence and convicted of both charges.
He was believed to have fled to Albania, and a warrant was issued for his arrest, after which a European arrest warrant was also granted.
Judge Andrew Lockhart QC, said Beaumont poses ‘a clear and present danger’ to children,’ and sentenced him in his absence.
Passing an extended sentence of four years, of which Beaumont will have to serve at least two-thirds before he can even be considered for parole, he also imposed a five-year extension to the time he will then spend on licence, and ordered him to register as a sex offender for life.
When Beaumont, who is also subject to a warrant issued at Airdrie Sheriff Court in Scotland in October last year, is finally arrested, he will be brought before the court to be told of his sentence.
Prosecutor Graeme Simpson had told the jury that in around 1980 Beaumont, who now describes himself as a ‘global coach,’ was working as a teacher at a Solihull school.
During a school trip he had got a boy aged eight or nine out of his bed and taken him into another room where he got the boy to perform a sex act on him.
Then on a later occasion, at Beaumont’s home, he fondled the boy and got the boy to touch him.
The offences only came to light last year, and following his arrest Beaumont denied acting indecently towards the boy, and was granted bail.
Mr Simpson said the matter predated an indecent assault on a child under the age of 16 in 1983, for which he appeared at the court in 1984 and was given a six-month suspended sentence.
In October 2016 he pleaded guilty at Airdrie Sheriff Court to sending messages of a sexual nature to a 14-year-old boy.
On that occasion his case was adjourned with him on bail for reports to be prepared on him – and a warrant was issued for his arrest when he failed to turn up to be sentenced in December.
He was said to have caught a flight from Edinburgh to Albania with £9,000 in cash on him, but it is now rumoured he has since moved to Mexico.
Jailing Beaumont for the Solihull offence, Judge Lockhart observed: “There is a significant degree of planning, grooming behaviour and a breach of trust.
“He is 61 years of age, and the offending took place a long time ago, between 1979 and 1981. He had been a teacher at this young boy’s school, and they had been on a trip away.
“The case I tried was conducted in the absence of this defendant, and he was convicted of those two counts. At the time, the offence carried a maximum of ten years. Now it would be 14.
“There was a breach of trust, and a significant one. One can barely imagine how upset and traumatised that boy would be, being taken to a man’s bed in the dead of night while he was away from home.
“I am absolutely satisfied this man presents a clear and present danger which could result in serious psychological or physical harm.
“Mr Beaumont is not here. In due course he will no doubt be arrested and brought before a court. When he is arrested, he should be brought before me.”
