Teacher who had sex with her pupils barred from classroom

A teacher who took the virginity of one of her pupils has been struck off after being jailed over child sex charges.

Rebecca Joynes, 31, from Salford, was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in July 2024 after twice having unprotected sex with one male pupil, known as Boy A during the trial, and another, named only as Boy B.

The paedophile has now been banned from teaching permanently after an industry panel ruled her crimes ‘involved repeated serious sexual misconduct towards children’.

On May 17, 2024, Joynes was convicted by jury at Manchester Crown Court of two counts of sexual activity with a child in that she engaged in penetrative sexual activity with a boy aged between 13 to 15 years old.

She was found guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child in that she engaged in nonpenetrative sexual activity with a boy aged between 13 to 15 years old.

The paedophile teacher was also convicted of two counts of sexual activity with a child in breach of trust in that she had sexual activity with a boy aged between 13 to 17 years old while she was in a position of trust.

The misconduct panel found these allegations proven.

‘It was very clear to the panel that Ms Joynes’ criminal offending involved repeated serious sexual misconduct towards children which resulted in a criminal sentence with a particularly high tariff,’ the panel said.

‘It noted the profound impact that Ms Joynes’ offending had had on her victims and that the offences in respect of Pupil B had been committed whilst on bail in relation to the offences relating to Pupil A.

‘It is considered that this demonstrated Ms Joynes’ scant regard for the seriousness of her actions.’

In its ruling, the panel added that ‘there was no evidence of insight, remorse or remediation from Ms Joynes’.

She began exchanging Snapchat messages with her first victim, Boy A, after setting him a challenge in which he had to guess the last two digits of her phone number.

They had unprotected sex twice, after which the boy is said to have told her: ‘I hope to God you don’t get pregnant.’

When police began investigating is ‘distraught’ mother caught wind of the illegal act and stormed into school.

Joynes was suspended and bailed on condition she has no unsupervised contact with anyone under 18, during which time she moved back in with her parents in the Wirral.

She then began a relationship with Boy B, who was 16 at the time, after he messaged her on Snapchat asking how she was.

Joynes later moved back to her flat in Salford Quays where she took Boy B’s virginity.

The teenager later told police they regularly had sex, including unprotected sex, while he was still at school, and that he saw the relationship as ‘friends with benefits’.

He said Joynes told him she could not have a baby – but she eventually became pregnant by him.

Joynes then invited the boy over for a ‘date night’ involving an Ann Summers scratchcard of sexual activities, with rose petals and notes hidden around her flat.

They led to ‘surprises’ which ended with a babygrow with the words ‘Best Dad’ emblazoned on the front.

A court heard the relationship went on for 18 months, continuing after the boy turned 18.

When police came to arrest her a second time, she kept them waiting while she carried out a ‘factory reset’ on her phone to wipe all messages.

Detectives were able to retrieve messages from her network provider.

Joynes gave birth to their son in early 2024 but he was taken away from her hours later.

During her trial she was accused of a ‘naked attempt to garner sympathy’ from the jury when she appeared with a pink baby bonnet belonging to their baby visibly tucked into her trousers.

She told jurors she was only allowed to see the child three times a week.

She denied having sex with Boy A and insisted she only began having sex with Boy B after he had turned 16 and left school, which would have been legal.

Joynes admitted letting boy A into her apartment and swapping messages with him but insisted she only did so because she was ‘lonely’ and ‘liked the attention’ after a previous nine-year relationship ended during the pandemic.

The court heard boys in her class told her she was ‘so sexy’ and nicknamed her ‘Bunda Becky’ in a slang-based reference to her bottom.

She wept as she told jurors: ‘I let my guard down. I caved into the attention he was giving me.’

Her defence barrister claimed Boy B and Joynes were in a misguided but ‘perfectly legal relationship’, and that the teenager chose to ‘twist the dates’ and ‘put the boot in’ after it ended.

The jury rejected the claims, finding Joynes guilty.

The misconduct panel prohibited the paedophile from teaching indefinitely, meaning she cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.

Joynes will not be entitled to apply for restoration of her eligibility to teach.

However, she has the right to appeal to the High Court within 28 days from the date she was banned.

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