College teacher gets three years
‘Flawed’ man invited victims to his home
A former football coach at Scarborough Sixth Form College has been jailed for grooming and abusing young men.
A former Spanish teacher and football coach at Scarborough Sixth Form College has been jailed for three years after grooming and sexually abusing three young men. Martin Fisher, 63, gave teenagers booze and cigarettes at late-night parties between the late 1980s and earlier 2000s, York Crown Court heard.
He often invited them back to his home in Scarborough where he let them drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and watch porn films, said prosecutor Michael Morley.
Fisher - who even gave the victims the keys to his home and let one of them drive his car - told them he was training to be a sports physio and offered to give them massages at his home, added Mr Morley.
He got them to lie on his bed and sexually assaulted them while giving them “practice massages” which he said was part of his ‘training’.
Fisher, said to be “highlypopular” at the time, taught Spanish at the school for two decades but was forced out in 2004 after other allegations surfaced.
However, police weren’t made aware of them and Fisher found new work answering telephones at a taxi office.
He wasn’t arrested until earlier this year, when another victim came forward with information about Fisher’s behaviour in the 1980s and 1990s.
Fisher, a former Cambridge University student, was arrested at his home where police seized his computer and found 16 indecent images of children, namely young boys.
He was charged with three counts of indecently assaulting the young footballers and seven counts of making indecent images of children.
Fisher, of Ramsey Street, Scarborough admitted all the offences and appeared for sentence on Monday.
One of the victims said he had passed out after he was given a glass full of spirits and the next thing he remembered was waking up naked on a bed at Fisher’s home to find the teacher assaulting him.
He said he’ had to “live with these demons for 30 years and feels that he will live with them forever,” added Mr Morley.
Another victim said Fisher had some “strange” procedures during his time as football coach, such as getting the players to take compulsory showers.
Defence barrister Taryn Turner described Fisher as a “very bright and talented man but also deeply-flawed”.
Jailing Fisher for three years, Judge Andrew Stubbs QC said Fisher had used grooming tactics to “break down” the resistance of his victims.
Fisher was placed on the sex-offenders’ register for 10 years.