The teacher at the centre of the sex offenders row broke his silence
this week and gave his first interview to the Bournemouth Echo.
William
Gibson was put on the sex offenders’ list in 1980 after indecently
assaulting one of his 15-year-old students who he later went on to
marry.
Echo news editor Andy Martin received a call on Sunday
morning saying that Gibson wanted to be interviewed and they met at the
paper’s office.
Gibson spoke about his offence for the first
time, saying he regretted what he had done and insisted he was not a
paedophile nor a threat to children.
He lives in Bournemouth and was working as a supply teacher at Porchester School.
Editor
Neal Butterworth said: “We tried to track him down as everybody did,
but eventually we got a call from the teaching agency saying he would
like to speak to us and only us. He simply didn’t want to speak to the
nationals.
He was very, very edgy and nervous.
His main concern was that someone would recognise him and he would be physically attacked.
“Here
was an opportunity for us to speak to someone that everyone else wanted
to speak to and we, like everyone, wanted to know where he was coming
from. It was a great story for us.”
The paper ran the story under
the headline “I’m no child threat” and followed it with a double-page
spread interview and two pages of background and reaction.
Martin was later inundated with calls from the national and local media, including Radio 5 Live and Newsnight.
The
father of the girl Gibson married contacted The Journal in Newcastle
saying he should never be allowed back into a classroom.
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