A Scots maths teacher has been spared jail after sending a 15-year-old girl sexual Snapchat messages and seedy photos, and trying to entice her to go to a hotel.
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". 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.
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. 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."
He said: "He obviously breached a position of trust. Oherwise there's a lot to be said for him. He is a young man, and his teaching experience was very brief."