Bakery heir faces jail over indecent assaults

THE heir to the Greggs bakery chain has been told he faces jail after he was found guilty of indecently assaulting four boys.

Colin Gregg, 75, helped build up the family business in the 1960s but later became a teacher, head teacher, social worker and charity boss.

The grandfather was found guilty of nine counts of indecent assault at Leeds Crown Court. The jury had heard how Gregg, of Homefarm Steading, Gosforth, Newcastle, assaulted the boys, aged between 11 and 14, from the 1960s to the 1990s.

The jury was told how he was once head teacher at The King’s School Junior School, in Tynemouth, and also taught at Durham School.

Gregg denied all the charges, claiming that he was the victim of a “witch hunt” and that the complainants were looking for compensation money.

The trial in Leeds was a retrial after a jury in Newcastle last year failed to reach verdicts.

The Leeds jury found Gregg guilty by a majority on eight of the counts and unanimously on the ninth.

Judge Robin Mairs told him that the granting of bail was no indication of the sentence.

He said: “These are serious matters and a custodial sentence is inevitable.”

As Gregg left the court, he was asked if he would apologise but said nothing.

He will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on March 30.

The jury was told Gregg was cleared of sexual assault in 1997. Prosecutor John Dilworth said Gregg had been a successful businessman, teacher and charity worker but beneath the respectable veneer he had been sexually abusing young boys with “alarming regularity”.