A convicted paedophile teacher is back behind bars after admitting luring a pupil to a Perthshire beauty spot to abuse him more than 30 years ago.
Predator David Gutteridge was arrested in England and brought to the dock to admit the historical indecent assault.
Gutteridge befriended his victim while teaching in the west of Scotland, then enticed him to a reservoir in the summer holidays to show him x-rated magazines and assault him.
The boy moved school but Gutteridge, now 70, kept contacting him for years.
He was convicted of similar abuse of a schoolboy while he taught in London in the 1980s.
At Forfar Sheriff Court this week, Gutteridge was jailed again and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
Abused at reservoir
The court heard Gutteridge, then in his 30s, met his victim while he taught English at a school in the west of Scotland.
Fiscal depute Sarah Wilkinson said Gutteridge phoned his victim’s father and invited himself to their home for lunch during the summer holidays in 1990.
While there, Gutteridge asked the boy to show him Perthshire’s sights and they drove to Backwater Reservoir, near Glenisla.
He parked and took two pornographic magazines from the glovebox.
He showed these to the boy and asked him if he was aroused.
Gutteridge then grabbed the boy by the arm and put his hand on his crotch.
Ms Wilkinson said the boy felt uncomfortable and confused and was conscious he had nowhere to escape to in the remote location.
He asked to return home, feeling humiliated and in some way responsible.
Continual pestering
The boy started at a new school after the summer holidays but his torment at Gutteridge’s hands continued.
For the next two years, Gutteridge pestered him with phone calls, letters and postcards.
The last of these, inviting the boy down to England, was read out in court.
Gutteridge wrote: “No more excuses, book a train ticket and come south for a few days, the week before or the week after Easter Sunday.
“It’s sunny here, you can pretend you’re in the south of France but you’ll not see naked ladies on the beach in April.”
The boy told his friends and the school was alerted.
Its headmaster wrote back to Gutteridge, demanding he cease contact.
He wrote he was making it “absolutely clear” the boy “has no wish to meet you or have communication with you at all, either now or in future”
He continued: “I find it extraordinary that you should continue to try to make contact in this way when he has made it apparent that such approaches are unwelcome.
“I do not intend to take things any further at this stage but should you disregard this advice I shall be forced to contact your employer to explain the situation.”
This letter was also sent to the boy’s father but after discussions, it was decided not to involve police.
Suicidal pervert skipped court
Gutteridge was due at Forfar Sheriff Court on Monday, having agreed to plead guilty to the indecent assault.
However, the retiree failed to travel from Kent and a warrant was issued.
Police arrested him at home and the authorities drove him more than 550 miles to Angus, where he appeared from custody on Wednesday.
He admitted that in the summer of 1990, he indecently assaulted his victim, who was 14 or 15.
His solicitor Larry Flynn said: “There’s a previous conviction that was in a school in England.
“This particular case, the first Mr Gutteridge knew about it was when he was arrested in 2023.
“I gave Mr Gutteridge advice about the options open to the court.
“It will not be lost that he was not present in court on Monday.
“We expected him to be here for the plea to be tendered.
“He was in a suicidal frame of mind. He’s certainly prepared for custody.”
Mr Flynn explained, as a teacher Gutteridge was “friendly,” “popular” and “seen as someone pupils could confide in.”
The solicitor added: “It’s very much in line with what he was convicted of (previously).
“He didn’t have a bad reputation in school. Quite clearly, he abused that position.
“He has transgressed his duty of care, not just as an adult but as a former teacher.
“Mr Gutteridge has asked me to convey his sincere apologies to the complainer for the incident. He knows that will make little difference.”
Jailed again
Gutteridge, of Nelson Crescent in Ramsgate, was jailed for 17 months and placed on the sex offenders register for a decade.
Sheriff Jillian Martin-Brown said: “It’s clear from the very detailed victim impact statement it’s had a profound impact on the complainer.
“These matters aren’t so historic or of a nature that this wouldn’t have been a custodial sentence in the 1990s.”
Gutteridge’s victim watched from the public gallery as his abuser was led away in handcuffs.
Targeted another boy in England
During the hearing, the court heard Gutteridge is still the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) imposed following his earlier conviction.
After a trial at Harrow Crown Court, he was convicted of indecently assaulting a teenage boy during the late 1980s after plying him with alcohol and cigarettes.
He was jailed for 18 months for making his victim, aged between 14 and 16, watch pornographic films before abusing him.
At the time, he was a teacher in north west London.
That abuse came to light when the victim confided in his wife in his 30s and decided to contact police.
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