While other members of staff enjoyed attending work events, Rebecca Joynes would always decline - preferring instead to socialise with the pupils she was entrusted to teach.
Joynes, 30, has today been sentenced to six and a half years for six counts of sexual activity with a child, including two counts while she was a person in a position of trust.
During her trial at Manchester Crown Court, jurors heard how Joynes, from Heswall on the Wirral, was 'over friendly' with pupils in her care, and abused her position as a 'nice' and 'fit' teacher. Apparently concerned with being a 'cool girl', Joynes was seen 'strutting' around the corridors of the Greater Manchester school, chatting with the children about topics such as fashion.
The paedo teacher even earned an inappropriate nickname among the kids - 'Bunda Becky' - a slang term which made reference to her bottom.
At the time of Joynes' conviction in May, a school source told The Times that, although they'd never seen the sex offender acting inappropriately with the teenage boys in question, she had noticed her walking along the corridor as if it was 'a fashion walkway', with a cardigan slung around her shoulders. The insider said Joynes behaved 'as if she was one of the Year 11s'.
Joynes' 'Bunda Becky' persona was a far cry from the 'quiet' gymnastics champ those who knew her during her own teenage years remember. Speaking of Joynes' hidden dark side, a Heswall resident previously told the Liverpool Echo: "She struck me as someone who was very quiet and fairly shy. She kept herself to herself. I hadn't thought about her in years but when my friends and I saw her name in the news we were shocked to see it. What was said in court appeared to go against her shy nature from when she was younger."
The game was finally up for Joynes when, in October 2021, Childline received a report that she'd had sex with a 15-year-old boy, Boy A, treating him to a £345 Gucci belt before bringing him back to her apartment. While on suspension from her 'dream job' and on bail, Joynes then took the virginity of a 16-year-old pupil, known as Boy B, becoming pregnant with his child.
After news of Joynes' suspension came to light, pupil behaviour reportedly deteriorated rapidly, with eight male students even creating an online group jokingly identifying themselves as the disgraced maths teacher's 'victims'. Other pupils are said to have shared videos via TikTok where they referred to Joynes a 'paedo' who 'likes kids'. During one incident, a toilet was graffitied with the words: 'Free Ms Joynes'.
Today, judge Kate Cornell told Joynes, who wept as her sentence was handed down, that she'd used 'flirtatious body language' with Boy A which was 'a clear Indication of grooming behaviour'. She added that, following her arrest, Joynes had 'shown an unwilling inability to face up to wrongdoing', telling her: "This does you no favours Ms Joynes."
Judge Cornell continued: "You were the adult, the one in control and should have known better. You were trusted by the school, the boys and the parents, for caring and protecting their sons. You abused that trust and exploited that role for your sexual gratification."
Reading aloud his victim impact statement, Boy B highlighted how abuse towards boys is still often regarded differently to abuse against girls. He told the court: "I held many things back, I thought better off dealing with things alone. The gender inequality I have faced is concerning and because of my gender it has been considered less. Despite the difference in gender, the mental impact has been the same.
"It has had a tremendous impact on me. I have been told time after time that now I am 18 I have to wait for support. The grooming started at 15, and I have been struggling to find services to support people of my age. There is a lot for young female children. There has been a lot of stigma, fear and shame. I struggled with it due to how it was perceived by others."
If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com
