WIRRAL MUSIC TEACHER VINCENT SPENCER SENTENCED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT ON YOUNG GIRL
In September 2015, Vincent Spencer, a 51-year-old music teacher from Birkenhead and a former Green Party press officer, was sentenced to 14 months in jail after sexually assaulting a teenage girl.Spencer persuaded his victim to get into bed with him before kissing her and touching her over her underwear.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that on June 13 of that year, the grandad-of-four committed the assault.
Prosecutor Robert Jones stated, “Spencer then suggested they take their clothes off but the girl refused.” He added that the girl was distressed, and when she discussed reporting the incident, Spencer told her, “It could just be our secret.” The next day, Spencer confided in a friend that he had “behaved stupidly” and subsequently handed himself into police.
As the victim’s mother read a statement in court, the defendant, who was dressed in a grey suit and wore glasses, covered his face with his hand.
Her statement read, “My daughter’s first sexual experience should have been when she was older and with someone her age who she was really fond of.
No mother should ever have to watch tears slide down her daughter’s face.
How could any man do this to any child?
Vincent Spencer is a very clever and articulate man.
He is also self-righteous, manipulative, and arrogant.” It was also revealed that Spencer lost his job at St John Bosco Arts College in Croxteth in 2009 due to an alleged inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old student.
Prosecutor Jones explained that Spencer’s marriage ended because of his “inappropriate conduct” with an ex-pupil at the girls’ secondary school when he was an assistant head teacher.
“She was a 15-year-old schoolgirl,” said Mr Jones.
“There was no criminal prosecution because there was an unwillingness on behalf of the girl and her family.” Spencer, who currently resides on St David’s Avenue in Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, pleaded guilty to sexual assault of a child under 16 and has no prior convictions.
During the hearing, his defense representative Frances Hertzog highlighted that Spencer has mental health issues and experienced a breakdown in October of the previous year.
She explained that he felt suicidal, attended counseling, but ended his sessions early, believing he had recovered.
Hertzog added that Spencer then began a relationship with a woman, which ended the day before the offence.
“At the time he felt very disconnected from the world,” she said.
Hertzog acknowledged that Spencer’s actions caused irreversible harm to his victim and stated, “He is truly sorry.” Judge David Aubrey, QC, remarked that the victim’s mother’s statement was “poignant and powerful,” and underscored the lasting psychological scars inflicted by Spencer, stating, “They will live with her for the rest of her life.” The judge rejected Spencer’s claim of feeling “disconnected from the world,” asserting instead that Spencer’s intent was sexual gratification, which warranted his imprisonment.
As he was sentenced, Spencer bowed his head.
Judge Aubrey noted, “You have cast a dark shadow over all.” Spencer received a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and is required to register as a sex offender for ten years.
Following his guilty plea in July, the Wirral Green Party suspended Spencer; it is understood that he has since resigned from the party.
