A PAEDOPHILE teacher condemned as “hypocritical and sanctimonious” was jailed after he groomed one of his pupils before going on to abuse him.

Anthony Preece taught at a school in Caerphilly county when he subjected his teenage victim to a catalogue of sexual degredation in the early 1980s.

He told how the defendant, now aged 75, had “devastated” his life and revealed how he once feared he might have infected him with Aids.

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At Cardiff Crown Court, prosecutor Andrew Davies read out his victim personal statement which said: “It was a very dark time for me.

“I felt shame and confusion. This has had a devastating impact on me as a person.”

The defendant had, it was said, once claimed he “knew some dangerous people”.

Preece, from Sherborne, Dorset, was convicted of 12 counts after a jury found him guilty following a trial.

The offences were committed when the complainant was aged 14 and 15 and drink and drugs were used to groom the boy.

The court heard how the defendant was jailed for three years in 1992 for indecently assaulting another student.

Justin Gau, representing Preece, said: "He is 75 and his health is not good.

"You have heard at some length from his doctors and the lengthy periods of depression and issues. 

"We are now at the stage he will not mentally or physically offend again.  

"The man himself is a changed man, shown maturity and he has taken the sexual offence therapy course and by settling down in a community.  

“There are references from people who know the shocking details of what he is done but are able to say he is a good man.” 

Judge David Wynn Morgan branded Preece’s behaviour as “manipulative and predatory”.

He told him: “You made the complainant feel special. You took him out in your car. You took him out for meals.

“Your victim said you dazzled him.

“During your trial, you portrayed him as a wicked liar and you presented yourself as charismatic.

“The jury saw you as hypocritical and sanctimonious.”

Preece was jailed for eight years and six months.

After he was taken to the cells, Judge Wynn Morgan said the court had been “moved by the eloquence” of the victim personal statement.

Preece will have to register as a sex offender for life.

A request was made to Gwent Police for a custody picture of the defendant but the force said they did not have one.