Teacher Receives Compensation after Classroom Rape

Posted on Jun 26, 2009 
 

A teacher who was raped by a fifteen year old pupil while she was working late in her classroom has received an undisclosed amount in compensation from the London school where she worked. 
 
The teacher, who worked at Westminster City School, was attacked and raped by Dwayne Best, who has been described as "powerfully built", in September 2004. The teacher, who cannot be named, had only been working at the school for a week when the "truly horrifying" attack took place.  
 
Westminster City School insisted, at London's High Court, that they could not have foreseen or prevented the rape, but the teacher argued that Best should have already been excluded from school because he was already the main suspect in a previous sexual assault which took place at the school.  
 
The teacher, who was new to the school, was unaware that a cleaner had been sexually assaulted three months previously at the school and Dwayne Best was the main suspect. She insisted that if she had known about this attack she would never have stayed in her classroom working late.  
 
The teacher's lawyer, Neil Block QC, said in court that the attack was a "sustained and terrifying sexual assault" and that it had resulted in the woman being unable to carry on working as a teacher. He added: "Best should have been excluded much sooner than happened, which was after this incident."  
 
Mr Justice Foskett, the judge, described the rape as "truly horrifying" and that the teacher's suffering had been exacerbated by the boy refusing for several months to plead guilty. After pleading guilty in May 2005 at the Old Bailey, Best was sentenced to be detained for life.  
 
Westminster City School's governing body and the teacher concerned have agreed to keep the compensation amount secret but it is known that the school is paying the woman's legal costs.