Pervert teacher plied schoolgirl with McDonald's, cigarettes and car rides before sexually exploiting her

A former maths teacher groomed one of his pupils by offering her McDonald's meals, cigarettes, and car rides before sexually assaulting her.

Richard Chipchase, who was convicted of four counts of sexual activity with a child in 2021, even locked the schoolgirl in a storeroom when she refused to hug him, a court previously heard.

He was jailed for 27 months but served half of that time and has now been released, a recent teacher misconduct panel hearing was told. He has since been banned from teaching indefinitely.

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Chipchase, who worked at a secondary school in Wirral, Merseyside, was not present at the misconduct hearing and did not send a representative, Cheshire Live reports.

The panel report states: "The panel finds that the conduct of Mr Chipcase fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession. The findings of misconduct are particularly serious as they include a conviction of a relevant offence involving sexual activity with a child."

Back in April 2021, Liverpool Crown Court heard Chipchase initially singled the pupil out for preferential treatment, allowing her to get away with not doing homework and offering her access to his treat-filled storeroom.

The court was told that he once locked his victim in the storeroom when she refused to hug him and tried to win her over with cigarettes, McDonald's meals and car rides.

Chipchase became a maths teacher in 1997 and a year later was made head of the school's maths department. In 2009, the panel hearing report says 'some concerns had been raised about his relationships with female pupils' resulting in him being given pre-disciplinary counselling.

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