Lucky Boy podcast teacher charged with sexual assault

The podcast focused on the story of Gareth – not his real name – who was a pupil at Christ’s College Finchley school in the late 1980s. It follows his quest for truth and accountability following what he says was a six-month sexual relationship with Sally Anne Bowen, who was then a 27-year-old chemistry teacher.

Gareth, now 52, claims the alleged relationship was an “open secret” at the then all-boys school among teachers and pupils alike. His mother says staff at the school failed to take her concerns about the relationship seriously. Eventually she says they told her that Bowen would be leaving at the end of the summer term and she would never teach again.

Gareth claims none of the staff at the school asked him about the relationship or tried to put a stop to it. Unhindered, he says it continued until Bowen told him she was leaving the country for a trip abroad.

After that, Gareth says his behaviour and mental health deteriorated rapidly. The school asked him to leave and soon after his mother asked him to move out.

Decades later when his own son reached the age of 14, he began questioning the nature of the relationship. That was when he first searched for Bowen online and realised that despite the assurance Christ’s College Finchley had given his mother, Bowen had never left the profession. Instead, the school had given her a reference that enabled her to go on teaching for decades.

In 2018 Gareth contacted the Teaching Regulation Agency, which investigates allegations of teacher misconduct on behalf of the Department for Education. They took Gareth’s allegations seriously and held a tribunal where both he and Bowen gave evidence to a panel of teachers and lay people.

The panel concluded that, on the balance of probabilities, Bowen had engaged in sex with Gareth at her home and banned her from ever teaching again.

Bowen is challenging the decision, which is due to be heard in the high court in September. She has denied having any relationship with any pupil at the school.

She will make a first appearance in the magistrates court this month.

Christ’s College Finchley did not comment on Bowen’s teaching ban and did not engage with the podcast.

Contacted for this article the school told The Observer that it was aware of the allegations and had been in contact with the relevant statutory agencies.