A TEACHER from Haddenham has been jailed for touching a pupil he was mentoring. Gary Lewis, 35, of Leicester Drive, was jailed for two and a half years at Cambridge Crown Court after pleading guilty to abusing a pupil, now 25, in 1999. The boy came forw

A TEACHER from Haddenham has been jailed for touching a pupil he was mentoring.

Gary Lewis, 35, of Leicester Drive, was jailed for two and a half years at Cambridge Crown Court after pleading guilty to abusing a pupil, now 25, in 1999.

The boy came forward after reading newspaper reports in 2007 that Lewis had emailed pornographic material to a 14-year-old pupil - for which he received a three year community order.

The former maths teacher and mentor taught at three village colleges in the county before his resignation in September 2007.

Lewis, who was also a football league referee in Cambridgeshire, asked that another offence of touching a young boy, dating back to 1987, be taken into account. He was banned from working with children and will sign the sex offenders register indefinitely.

A county council spokesperson refused say if school staff raised concerns about Lewis' behaviour.

"He has not been an employee of the county council since September 2007," he said, but in his previous jobs he was given a full CRB check," the spokesperson told the Ely Standard.

Sir Michael Bichard, the chairman of the Soham Inquiry, has expressed concern about using CRB checks alone to prevent staff having access to vulnerable people.

Criminal Records Bureau checks are only for previous convictions, and in Lewis' case, without any previous convictions, he was cleared to work with children.

Former secondary school teacher Gary Lewis.

Photo: SUPPLIED