Stephen Nicholson 43

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Father jailed for having sex with school girl in New Forest car park

A HAMPSHIRE father has been jailed for having sex with a school girl after driving her to a secluded New Forest car park.

Stephen Nicholson had been a bus driver transporting students from a school in the Test Valley area ten years ago, when he began to build a rapport with a number of female students.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Nicholson then started to exchange messages with one pupil, that quickly then grew into flirting.

Then, on one afternoon in the summer of 2008, Nicholson, who was 27 at the time, picked up the student in his car and took her to a secluded car park in Minstead, where the two had consensual sex. He then took her to her usual address so that it seemed as though she had caught the bus as usual.

Nicholson denied the charges of three counts of sexual activity with a child, but was found guilty by a jury after a trial.

Nicholson, of Woodland Close, Southampton, had been a driver for the school, with his job listed as taking students home from the school back home across the county.

Prosecuting, Unyime Davies told the court how the girl, who can't be identified for legal reasons, "didn't know how to handle the attention from an older man".

She said: "Mr Nicholson, in a position of trust, began to build a rapport with a group of girls. This quickly turned to flirting with one student and a number of messages were sent. Some of these were recovered from an old SIM card of the victim.

"On one afternoon, Mr Nicholson then arranged to pick her up in his car and drove to a secluded car park in Minstead where the two engaged in sexual activities.

"There was also grooming against the victim before the offences. Significant planning was also needed to establish how much time the defendant would have before the bus reached the victim's home."

Mitigating for Nicholson, barrister Sarah Jones told the court that the now 37-year-old has built a family and a new life in the ten years since the offences took place.

She said: "The life of Mr Nicholson's wife and family is now going to come crumbling down. One of the hardest things for them is to not be able to tell their children, who are aged two, five and seven, when their father is going to be coming home."

Presiding, Judge Peter Henry said that had Nicholson pleaded guilty, he would have received a shorter time behind bars.

He said: "It's a great shame you did not plead guilty to these matters, particularly after the messages were recovered. I agree that there was planning involved in this, and for that I am sentencing you to four years and three months to be served concurrently."

A danger to women and highly manipulative individual. Prays on naivety and innocence.

Pretended to be an ex Royal Marine. Also worked in Poole Dorset for the RNLI with false paperwork.