A former teacher from Westgate, who became disgraced after sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl, has received a prison sentence of five years and six months.
David Briggs, aged 29 and father to one child, committed the rape when he was just 17 years old.
In addition to this, Briggs sexually abused a young boy over a span of four years, when the boy was between nine and 13 years old.
The victim of Briggs’s sexual assault, now a 26-year-old woman, told the court that the incident took place at a residence in Edinburgh.
She said: "I was just turned 15 and I thought if I tell anyone about this my life is over." Two years ago she finally contacted a children's charity and the police became involved.
She said: "At no point did I want to tell anyone about what happened to me.
I just wanted to make sure other people were safe." The woman said then decided to tell her mother in 2016 and wrote out a message headed "telling mum", in which she revealed that she was sexually abused.
The woman said: "She told me straight up 'I believe you.
What other reason would you have for saying this other than it must be true'." He was also convicted of abusing a boy from the age of eight by carrying out sex acts on him at addresses in Edinburgh and at Millport on the isle of Cumbrae between January 2002 and 2006.
The court heard that he was working as a primary teacher in England when the offences came to light.
According to his Linked In profile, he was once a teacher at Cliftonville Primary School.
Briggs denied the offences and claimed they never happened.
Lord Woolman placed Briggs on the sex offenders' register.
This is a probabilistic continent or country-group signal from public name datasets. It is not proof of nationality, ethnicity or personal background.
Likely region signal
UK
Country
from United Kingdom
- based on surname
41.5%
confidence
First-name region
UK
United States
26.5%
Surname region
UK
United Kingdom
41.5%
Court Outcome
Conviction and Sentencing Details
Sentenced
Detected legal outcome
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the community, David Briggs, a 29-year-old man from Westgate-on-Sea, has been sentenced to five years and six months in prison for heinous sexual offenses committed in Edinburgh and the Isle of ...
Prison sentence
five years and six months
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the community, David Briggs, a 29-year-old man from Westgate-on-Sea, has been sentenced to five years and six months in prison for heinous sexual offenses committed in Edinburgh and the Isle of Cumbrae
Sex Offenders Register
Following the conviction, Lord Woolman ordered Briggs to register as a sex offender, a move that underscores the severity of his crimes
