After being imprisoned for offenses involving two of her students—one of whom she later had a baby with while on bail—a former math teacher was struck off. Rebecca Joynes, 30, was found guilty on several counts of having intercourse with minors while in a position of trust and was given a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence last year. She was now permanently barred from teaching by a misconduct panel, which found that her actions amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and had obviously damaged the reputation of the profession.
In 2021, Joynes initially targeted a 15-year-old student in her class. Flirtatious text exchanges resulted from her giving him a portion of her phone number and asking him to guess the remainder. Later, she met him at Selfridges, gave him a £345 Gucci belt, and brought him to her Salford apartment for two $_x sessions. The school contacted the boy’s mother after accusations surfaced, and the boy later shared a picture with friends as evidence. After a police investigation was started, Joynes was taken into custody and released on bond with the requirement that she not speak to anyone under the age of eighteen.
She nevertheless pursued a second student, Boy B, who was initially 15 years old. When he turned sixteen, Joynes sent him private pictures and notes calling him “perfect,” which intensified their relationship. After inviting him to her flat, they started having intercourse that lasted for at least thirty different locations. She informed him that her polycystic ovary syndrome made it almost impossible for her to conceive, but she later showed him a babygrow and declared, “I love my daddy to the moon and back.” In the end, the couple had a child together.
During sentencing, Judge Kate Cornell described Joynes’ behaviour as showing “breathtaking gall” and “astonishing arrogance.” The misconduct panel echoed this view, with chairman Phil Thompson stating that her actions were extremely serious offences that undermined public confidence in the teaching profession. Joynes’ conduct, he said, represented extensive breaches of professional boundaries and abuse of her position of trust. She sobbed as she was jailed in July last year, and the prohibition order now ensures she will never be allowed to teach again.
