Teacher's brave bid to save evidence
The teacher raped by a pupil in the classroom had the presence of mind to try to preserve as much evidence as possible.
Covered in blood and with her mind racing, she was able to think clearly enough in the immediate aftermath of the savage assault to try to preserve forensic evidence that could be vital in court.
She said: "I knew what I had to do, I've seen it on TV.
"I must be careful. I must not damage any evidence."
She said she was trying to be "as practical as possible and as helpful to the police as she could beî.
The teacher's harrowing testimony underlined the brutality of the rape.
She said: "Everything happened so fast and some of the events overlapped because it happened so fast.î The teacher believes that while her attacker needs help, she also feels that other people urgently need to be protected from him.
She is "angry that it was possible for it to happenî and is "still very deeply distressed by the whole thingî. The woman, who is single and has no children, told an official in her union that she is still deciding her future and whether she will return to the classroom.
The teacher has spoken "very forcefully about what happenedî, the official said. She does not desire revenge against her attacker. "There wasn't a vindictive or vengeful tone in her voice, it was very practical,î said the official.
The teacher was "extremely praisingî of the police for the way they helped her in the wake of the assault.
She was also grateful for the help she received from other teachers at the school, and from her union. The teacher is having "tremendously helpfulî counselling to try to help her cope with the memories of what happened.
"Talking to the police and the support group the police put her in touch with has allowed her to talk openly at her own speed," the union official said.
He said she is a level-headed woman who was experienced in dealing with difficult children at tough inner-city comprehensives.
Although she was only in her second day at the London secondary where the attack took place, she had spent the previous four years working in a similar state school elsewhere in England.
The union official added: "She really just wants to get her life back together again, get over the trial, over the sentencing and then assess what she wants to do."
