A PHYSICAL education teacher, jailed yesterday for a year after having been found guilty of sexually abusing two teenage boys in an after-school weight training class, was one of the country's most successful coaches of young Scottish athletes.
Seven years after having been acquitted on similar, but not proven, charges at a Clydebank school, John Tonner, 47, was sentenced at Airdrie Sheriff Court on three charges of lewd and libidinous behaviour towards two pupils at the Cumbernauld school to which he had subsequently moved.
Sheriff Ian Simpson, who said the teacher had abused his position, told him: ''The jury, in December, convicted you of crimes of a very serious nature. It was a very serious breach of trust, possibly the most serious trust that a teacher has.
''Parents must be confident that their children aren't going to be touched up by their teacher. You have ruined your life through these actions.
''I have read your references and you have done an awful lot in the athletics world, but like many people, you have been let down by having an Achilles heel.''
During the four-day trial in December, the court was told how Tonner ordered a 14-year-old boy to strip to his boxer shorts before rubbing cream into his leg and forced a 13-year-old boy to sit on his knee before fondling his groin.
Tonner was found guilty by majority verdict of three charges of lewd and libidinous conduct.
He was placed on the Sex Offenders' Register and released on bail after Sheriff Simpson deferred sentence for a psychological report.
Sentence was further deferred after the former teacher claimed he had no recollection of the incident nor the court hearing.
Sheriff Simpson finally passed sentence yesterday after obtaining a psychiatric report.
Tonner, who is married and has more than 20 years' experience teaching and as a sports coach, was admonished on one charge, but on the other two he was jailed for a year.
He was also told that on his release he would be put on a supervisory order and was told to seek sex counselling.
During the trial, one pupil, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he had taken part in an after-school weight training class. The boy, now aged 15, told the court: ''He had cream in his bag. My jogging bottoms were on the floor and he then led me by the hand. I was too nervous to resist.
''He put his hands underneath my boxer shorts and was rubbing cream in. He then rubbed my privates. I did not tell anyone about it until I told my mum.''
Another boy told the court how he went into Tonner's office for a knee injury to be checked and the teacher rubbed his leg in the groin area.
When asked why he had not told somebody about what had happened, the boy said: ''I was too embarrassed.''
Tonner, of New Culloden, Southfield, near Slamannan, Stirlingshire, who was suspended by North Lanarkshire Council's education department when the offences came to light, denied all the charges.
Defence solicitor Andrew Gibb told Sheriff Simpson his client had five-figure savings and could afford to pay a substantial fine.
Tonner had coached a catalogue of Scottish age group champions with two leading West of Scotland athletics clubs, and among these was one of the champion boys' teams at last weekend's Scottish cross-country championships.
While suspended since the incident on January 28 last year, he had continued to coach teenagers, many of whose parents refused to believe the allegations.
Mr David Joy, chief executive of the Scottish Athletics Federation, last night issued a statement confirming that the case had heightened the urgency of putting in place appropriate procedures to prevent any similar incidents occurring in future.
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