Pupil ‘left school’ due to alleged sexual assault

COURT: Woman tells trial teacher gave her gifts and was ‘flirtatious’

A pair of former Dundee school pupils fought back tears as they told a court how an art teacher sexually assaulted them.

One of the females, now an adult, said she dropped out of school because of the behaviour of James Smith, 57.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told Dundee Sheriff Court a friendly rapport between her and Smith escalated into him bombarding her with messages outside school hours, giving her gifts and being “flirtatious”.

The situation culminated in Smith kissing her and touching her breasts – on one occasion in an empty classroom – the court heard.

Giving evidence at his trial, the woman said: “I was quite freaked out by the attention.

“I tried not to see him so much, but he questioned where I was and would come to find me in other classes. It was embarrassing and confusing.”

The woman said that on the day she left school, Smith, who she saw as a “guardian” figure, followed her down the street and kissed her.

This was allegedly followed by a further incident on another day when she returned to the school to collect artwork and Smith kissed her and touched her breast, the trial was told.

Another one of Smith’s former pupils alleges he groped her at his home address on Nelson Street, when she was aged 22.

The woman said she bumped into him in a café on Reform Street, then went to a bar in the Seagate for a “catch-up”.

She said she trusted Smith and had no concerns when he invited her to stay at his house after she missed the last bus home, adding that she was “particularly naive” at the time.

The woman said his demeanour changed when she declined to spend the night in his bed and asked to sleep in his daughter’s room.

She claims Smith looked “irritated”, climbed into bed with her, pressed his groin against her and touched her breast. He then allegedly asked her to follow him to his bed, where he repeated the same actions.

She said: “I curled myself into a ball, playing dead almost.

“I was frightened. He was acting in a way I’d never have expected. I didn’t know what he would do if I spoke up.”

Smith denies the allegations and his solicitor suggested to the latter woman she had flirted with the teacher, before becoming irate he would not have sex with her.

“That’s categorically not true”, she said.

Smith faces six charges accusing him of indecently assaulting women and children, as well as looking up the skirts of pupils, between 2008 and 2016.

The trial continues.