Larbert High teacher sent teen girl sex messages on Snapchat

James Connal, 31, a maths teacher at Larbert High School, groomed the girl while giving her private tuition.

A jury at Falkirk Sheriff Court heard that his contacts with the girl "started out innocently enough but within a couple of weeks had developed into something that was anything but innocent".

Connal began to text her throughout the day, including during school hours, telling her she was "pretty", that he "looked forward to seeing her", and then asked her to go away with him and stay in a hotel in Edinburgh with him.

He added her on Snapchat and sent her selfies of himself topless and with his hand down his trousers, messaged asking if she "wanted to see something hard", and texted to ask if he could put his hand down her top.

She said in evidence he had tried to kiss her on two occasions when he turned up for maths lessons, and he had also told her to delete some of the messages he had sent.

Connal tutored the girl, now 18, for about two months in 2021, when her mother spotted on her daughter's phone some of what Connal had been sending, cancelled a lesson set for that day, and the police were called in.

The seedy pics showed some had been taken in his classroom at Larbert High School, and showed his "distinctive tattoos".

The court heard that because the Snapchat app only transmits new photos just taken, the "obvious conclusion" was that some of them had been sent "live" from the school.

Connal, of Hallglen, denied a charge of indecent communication and causing the girl to look at sexual images.

He did not give evidence himself but entered a special defence of incrimination that suggested the photos and messages had been sent by another, unspecified, person.

Prosecutor Jamie Hilland told jurors: "Use your common sense. The ragingly clear conclusion is that they were sent by Mr Connal. I would suggest you should have little difficulty in rejecting the possibility that someone else had been sending them."

Referring to Connal's suggestion to the girl about going with him to an Edinburgh hotel, Mr Hilland said: "The implication of that is pretty clear."

After a two day trial, jurors took less than 15 minutes yesterday (Wednesday) to find Connal guilty by majority.

He was also found guilty of breaching the terms of an undertaking – so-called police bail.

He showed no emotion when the verdicts were returned.

Peter Keene, defending, said: "The benchmark in this case might not be a jail sentence."

Sheriff Christopher Shead deferred sentence for reports until February 22, and continued bail.

He told Connal: "These are serious matters, and the court is duty-bound to consider all disposals, including custody."

Placing Connal on the sex offenders register, he added that he "had been professional person", but that had been ended by the jury's verdicts.

A spokesperson for Falkirk Council said: “The individual no longer works for the council following an appropriate investigation.”