Ex-head, 75, faces prison over gross indecency

A RETIRED headmaster who was honoured by the Queen for his services to young people is facing jail after being found guilty of gross indecency with a 14-yearold boy 40 years ago.

John Coatman, 75, went on trial at the Old Bailey accused of forming a sexual relationship with a member of a Christian youth group he was involved with in the 1970s.

The claim surfaced in 2014 after the breakdown of the victim’s marriage and problems at work, jurors were told.

But Coatman denied the accusations, saying he was “shocked” and “deeply shaken” to be arrested. Coatman told jurors he had worked with around 22,000 young people in his lifetime and this was his first complaint.

He was headteacher of St Andrew’s secondary school in Croydon, south London, and had a 50-year association with the Christian group.

He retired in 1998 after 42 years as a teacher and was made an MBE in 2012, the court heard.

Describing the day of his arrest in 2014, Coatman said: “The phone was ringing and my immediate thought was one of my young people had had an accident.

“When I got there, I was arrested. It was a complete shock to me. I had no experience of this kind of thing before in my life.”

Coatman, who described himself as a bachelor, denied the accusation that “rough and tumble” with his accuser had turned sexual.

But the jury found Coatman, of Croydon, guilty of two counts of gross indecency after four hours and 20 minutes of deliberations. The defendant, who made no reaction, was cleared of one charge of buggery.

Following the majority verdict, the jury heard that Coatman was suffering from prostate cancer.

Sentencing was adjourned until Friday September 30.

Coatman was granted conditional bail, although Judge Richard Hone QC warned that a jail sentence would follow.