Accused teacher Robert Gould takes the stand and says he ‘absolutely’ did not abuse 14 children at Rushden school

Robert Gould, of Wellingborough Road, Rushden, is on trial accused of offences spanning a 16-year period said to have been committed against young boys at the school and two others who were not pupils.

The Northampton Crown Court trial, now in its second week, heard from Gould for the first time on Friday (January 17) as he gave evidence in his own defence.

Wearing a black jumper and shirt, with a yellow tie, Gould was asked by his own barrister James Gray whether he was sexually attracted to children.

"No,” he replied firmly.

He said he ‘absolutely’ stood by all the answers he had given to police in both investigations into him. The 74-year-old was asked whether he remembered the 1988 trial, where he was found guilty of assaulting five victims at South End Junior School in the 1980s.

"Were you guilty?” asked Mr Gray.

"No, absolutely not,” said Gould.

He said his case at the time had been reported in the Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph as well as The Sun, and by local TV stations.

He was asked about deputy headteacher Steven Szwejkowski, who had walked into a classroom in 1988 and found Gould standing with a boy who had his shorts down.

Mr Szwejkowski had reported the matter to headteacher Mr Hale and subsequently gave evidence at Gould’s trial later that year.

"Have you seen Mr Szwejkowski since the 1988 trial?” he was asked by Mr Gray.

"Yes, when he collected me from, Bedford Prison on the day I was released,” said Gould.

During the trial, it was said that the pair had stayed in touch with Gould via Christmas cards since his conviction. Mr Szwejkowski left South End Juniors in 2008.

Gould, of Wellingborough Road, was asked about children who had been called to the front of the class to sit on his lap and read.

"Can you tell me what physical contact there would be between your body and their body?” he was asked by Mr Gray.

"They were sitting on my lap, full stop,” he said.

He was asked if he had ever touched the bottoms or genitals of any of his pupils, or whether he had gone into the cupboard with any of them, and he replied ‘no’ to each question.

He was asked whether he had ever been spoken to by headteacher Mr Hale after the mother of Witness A went into school to complain about him. He said he had not been spoken to, and that one of Mr Hale’s own children had later been in his class

Earlier in the trial, one of the victims said that Gould had given them instructions in class on how to masturbate. He was asked by his barrister about whether he had ever taught the children about masturbation.

“If it was mentioned, it would be in a sex education lesson,” he said, “and it would be in response to a question from a child.”

Under cross examination, he was asked by barrister Claire Howell whether, when he was first questioned by police in 1988 his first instinct had been to lie.

"I didn’t lie,” he said. "I may have not explained it very well.”

"What didn’t you explain very well?” said Ms Howell several times.

Gould couldn’t answer, but said that ‘it was a long time ago’.

He was asked about the time when he allegedly slept in the same bed as Witness N, who was said to be ten-years-old at the time.

"Were you in bed with him?” asked Ms Howell.

"Yes but not sleeping with him,” said Gould.

"You didn’t make any mention of this in your 1987 interview with police?” she said.

After that interview, police had spoken to the other adult who had been in the house at the time who told them she came in in the morning and found them in the bed together, with Gould’s sleeping bag on the floor.

Police then re-interviewed Gould, who was still in custody, and he admitted that he had been in bed with Witness N, but that he had only been talking to him.

"You had been caught lying, hadn’t you?

“That’s why you changed your account.”

"No, not at all,” replied Gould.

She said Gould was ‘caught in a lie’ and he said: “This is nearly fifty years ago.”

She said Gould had then told police that he had lied ‘because of all the allegations which had been made.’

"So you’re saying you deliberately hid from police that you’d been in bed with Witness N?” Ms Howell said.

“No,” said Gould.

"So, you tell the jury what you meant by that.”

Gould shrugged and said: “That’s the only answer I can give.”

"So you had deliberately lied to the police hadn’t you?” said Ms Howell.

"That’s what you’re saying,” he said.

He then said he was finding it ‘very, very difficult’ to cope with being in the witness box and His Honour Judge Herbert said it was time for a break in the proceedings.

Earlier on Friday, the jury had heard details of Gould’s historic convictions from August 1988. The court heard he was found guilty of five counts of indecency a child alerted their parents to a sexual assault which took place in his classroom. The rest of the class were then questioned, as well as the year above, and more victims were discovered.

He had been suspended from South End Juniors on February 24 of that year and was convicted of five indecent assaults against boys at the school on August 24, 1988.

The court also heard that, with regard to 1987 allegations of buggery and sexual assault which related to Witness N, advice was sought by the chief constable from the CPS on whether to charge Gould. The crown prosecutor stated that there should be no charges because there was ‘no corroboration’, only the victim’s word for it.

One of the counts against Gould was discontinued on Friday so there are now 30 charges against him. He denies them all.

The trial continues.

Read all our trial coverage here:

Rushden teacher accused of assaulting 14 boys goes on trial

‘I didn’t think it was right,” says boy who says he was assaulted by Gould

'And in that moment all of the memories of him molesting me came flooding back'

Rushden man disclosed before he died that he was 'raped in cupboard' by teacher Robert Gould

Robert Gould 'got into my bed' and 'raped me’ says man who alleges he was abused as a child