Teacher who had sex with boy, 15, jailed for six years
Marti Pellow on coming to terms with solo success and why, despite selling 15 million albums, he was never totally comfortable with fame
A TEACHER who groomed a pupil aged 15 for sex was branded “beyond despicable” by a judge who jailed her for six years.
Recorder Bal Dhaliwal Kandice Barber, 35, added: acted in gross breach of trust.
“You took advantage of a child in your care and groomed him for your own sexual gratification.”
The married teacher used Snapchat to lure the boy in 2018 and threatened to “bring him down with her” if he revealed the relationship. Barber sent topless photos and a video of herself performing a lewd act to the pupil, who cantold “You not be named for legal reasons. The paedophile had sex with him in a field and told him she was pregnant but was unsure if he or her husband was the father.
Judge Dhaliwal told Barber, of Wendover, Bucks: “This was yet another attempt to manipulate him.” Prosecutor David Povall told Amersham Law Courts the teen had suffered stress and anxiety, adding: “His GCSE results were not as good as they should have been. The defendant, supposed to help students make the right decisions, instead helped him make all the wrong decisions.” Barber was convicted of three abuse charges, including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity.
A MOTHER has praised kind-hearted Daily Express readers for helping change the life of her little girl who is unable to smile.
Freya Lou Campbell, four, is one of only 200 Britons with the rare neurological condition Moebius syndrome. She was diagnosed at five months.
Freya’s facial nerves are paralysed and she is unable to smile or blink. And her muscles are too weak to walk or eat properly.
Parents Michael Campbell, 25, and Sophie Lock, 24, needed at least £5,000 for a vibrating-plate Galileo machine to boost Freya’s movement. It is made in Germany and not available on the NHS.
They have praised our readers after donations of £6,000 mean they can buy the machine and physio support packages as well.
Sophie, of Horwich, Greater Manchester, said: “We are amazed we raised the money so quickly!
“Lots of people have helped but we want to thank Daily Express readers for their generosity.
“We’ve placed the order for the £5,000 machine.
“But the extra money raised will help pay for the expert physio support packages which is great as we really need that.
“This means so much for us and Freya and we can’t wait to hear her giggle when she gets to use her own machine.”
“I’m overwhelmed already by how generous people have been.”
● To still donate via the Just Giving Page here: justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ sophie-lock
MARTI Pellow has sold millions of albums and enjoyed an enviable string of No 1 singles – but still fears his late father would mock his lack of a “real job”.The ex-Wet Wet Wet singer’s dad John McLachlan was a tough Glaswegian builder who never understood his son’s success, despite the band’s classic hits like Sweet Little Mystery, Goodnight Girl and, of course, Love Is All Around, which topped the UK charts for an incredible 15 weeks.
John’s doubts pushed Marti to prove himself, but the star admits he still suffers from imposter syndrome, fearing he will one day be unmasked as a fraud who doesn’t really know what he’s doing.
“I’m a spiritual person and I strongly believe I’ll walk with my mum and dad again one day,” he says. “But I hope that when I do meet my dad again, we’re not arguing, or that he’ll tell me ‘Get a real job!’ I’ll reply ‘You’re even telling me that in the afterlife, Dad?’ and I worry I’ll have to go through all that again.”
Wet Wet Wet formed in the rough Glasgow district of Clydebank, scoring their first Top 10 hitWishing I Was Lucky in 1987.After an earlier split, followed by a reunion, Marti and the band parted company for good in 2017 and, at the time, it was reported he was moving on to pursue a solo career.
Now, comfortable in his skin and having proved himself as a solo musician, he admits he was “basically fired” by the band.
“We don’t talk any more,” Marti says. “That in itself tells you a lot. I can’t see us ever communicating again. We only communicate through lawyers. The way it ended was just horrible, as we weren’t in a good place.”
The final straw came when Marti wanted to cancel a planned tour to focus on a musicals project. He explains: “That was when it became, ‘That’s it’ and we only started speaking through the lawyers.”
Wet Wet Wet are now fronted by Kevin Simm, former singer with reality pop group Liberty X. It was a sad ending for a group of friends – bassist Graeme Clark, drummer Tommy Cunningham and keyboard player Neil Mitchell – who worked so hard to escape their hard-knock beginnings.
Although Wet Wet Wet enjoyed 13 Top 10 hits – including three No 1 singles – as well as three charttopping albums, modest Marti still doubts his success after nearly 35 years of stardom.
He continues: “Imposter syndrome has always been there. My enthusiasm sometimes far outweighs my talent. I love trying different things. As soon as a new opportunity is there, I burst through the door,
going ‘I can do that!’ Then I start to think ‘But can I really do it? Argh!’” He thinks it probably stems from his father’s constant worry that his son’s precarious showbusiness career could collapse at any point. Marti admits: “I always worried that if an album didn’t sell, Dad would go ‘Aha! I told you’.” John died aged 79 in 2014. Marti revealed his father confided in him shortly before his death how, despite his doubts, he had enjoyed his son’s success. Marti, 55, said: “Dad took me to some of the places he’d been when he was growing up, showing me the same sunsets. It was beautiful, and then he told me, ‘I’m so proud of you. What you sing brings me so much joy.’ So there was a resolution there.”
Since Wet Wet Wet first split in 1999, Marti has enjoyed success both as a solo singer and as a star in musicals. His first West End role was in Chicago in 2002, and he’s also starred on Broadway. Marti now believes his love of trying new entertainment chances led to his band’s final split in 2017, 13 years after they’d reformed. “When we got back together in 2004, I came back as a solo artist, not just to be in Wet Wet Wet,” he says. “That caused friction between us, to the point they didn’t want me and I basically got fired.”
Despite the split, Marti insists he bears his former bandmates no animosity, saying: “I had a great time with Wet Wet Wet. They’re a different band now, but I’m not bitter, because I’m focusing on the future. I’ve a lot of irons in a lot of fires and, at 55, I enjoy thinking, ‘I want to do this, that and that’.”
Marti’s love of fresh opportunities is typified by his stunning new album Stargazer. A totally different sound for the star, it’s a rock album influenced by David Bowie and 1970s disco. In fact, Marti admits: “I couldn’t have made this record with Wet Wet Wet. It’s nowhere near them, a whole different vibe.
“The sound of this album spins me out because it’s so not what I expected, let alone anyone else. It’s changed because I usually write on piano, but on these songs I’m writing on guitar.”
Known for writing tender love songs, Stargazer sees Marti look back on his tough