SCHOOL TEACHERS ALASTAIR CLARK AND ALINA BIBBY WALK FREE DESPITE SECRET SEXUAL FANTASIES IN PRESTON

In April 2007, two school teachers involved in a disturbing secret relationship and inappropriate fantasies were allowed to go free after court proceedings. Deputy headmaster Alastair Clark, 48, and reception teacher Alina Bibby, 56, were discovered to have engaged in a clandestine, intimate relationship following their meeting at a primary school. Both parties exchanged text messages, photos scanned from pornographic magazines, and discussed the idea of molesting pupils.

Bibby, a mother of two, sent Clark an explicit message describing a sexual fantasy involving young girls in her PE class. She had also taken photographs of a four-year-old girl she was babysitting—all on her mobile phone—and sent these images to Clark. Clark, a father of two, admitted he found these images sexually stimulating, stating, "sexual titillation." Prosecutor Mr. Potter emphasized the gravity of the images, saying, "These are not just images, they are of a real person."

Bibby's solicitor, Daniel King, explained, "They put into text what they fantasised about and had this unreal sexual relationship." Bibby pleaded guilty to making an indecent photograph of a child, sending an indecent photograph, and posting a grossly offensive message.

The pair's relationship was described as a "fantasy" they lived out through messages and pictures. Bibby, whose husband is a headteacher, took photographs of a friend's four-year-old daughter in Blackburn, Lancashire, which she later shared with Clark. The child's mother, Mr. Potter recounted, was unaware of Bibby spending time alone with her daughter and was distressed when shown the images.

The misconduct was uncovered when Clark, while updating his mobile phone at the Carphone Warehouse in the Trafford Centre, came across indecent pictures of a child that had been sent to him. Staff alerted authorities, leading to his arrest. Clark admitted to police that he and Bibby had shared sexual fantasies, some involving children. While in custody, he received a further explicit message from Bibby involving inappropriate remarks about schoolchildren.

Both teachers, who have been married—Clark since the 1990s—and met at a school in Oswaldtwistle, developed a text-based relationship that escalated to include explicit content involving children. Defense lawyers described Clark’s actions as stemming from a crude relationship with Bibby, noting the images became increasingly explicit as their relationship deepened. Clark's attorney, Joseph Hart, stated, “These images arose from a lurid and crude relationship with the co-defendant. He can’t explain why he kept the images rather than simply deleting them.”

Clark’s marriage, which lasted 20 years, was severely damaged, but he and his wife maintained a cordial relationship for their two children, who were considered safe. Hart also revealed Clark had contemplated suicide, commenting, "Whatever sentence he receives will be nothing to the sentence he has already given himself. He has destroyed his life." Bibby’s lawyer, Lisa Roberts, explained that her client was going through a personal crisis at the time of the offences, felt flattered by Clark’s attention, and fell under his charm. Roberts emphasized that there was no commercial intent behind the images and highlighted Bibby’s 30 years of unblemished teaching service.

Judge Anthony Russell QC sentenced both to six months in prison, suspended for two years, and imposed a ten-year order banning them from working with children under 16 or having unsupervised contact with such children. They were also ordered to register as sex offenders for seven years and pay costs of £200 each.

The case was brought to light after Clark, a married man, attempted to update his phone at the Trafford Centre. A staff member discovered the indecent images sent to him and reported this to the police. Clark admitted to the allegations, revealing that he and Bibby had shared sexual fantasies involving children. The investigation revealed their relationship, which began in the 1990s when they worked together in Oswaldtwistle, had resulted in the exchange of increasingly explicit and disturbing material involving minors.

Both teachers, described as respectable before these events, faced critical sentencing remarks from Judge Russell, who stated, “You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves and I accept that you are ashamed of yourselves. You had hitherto impeccable characters and each of you has fallen a long way from the high esteem in which you were held.”