THE grandmother of one of Adam Gutteridge’s victims has spoken of the devastating impact of his ‘grooming’ actions.

She says her granddaughter harboured the truth about Gutteridge’s abuse for five years until she saw him on a national TV advert and broke down.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, says she was ‘horrified and shocked’ when she learned the truth and believes it took her granddaughter great courage to tell the police.

“The effect this has had on those girls is just horrific. No matter how many years he serves in prison, these girls have been handed a life sentence.”

She said her granddaughter has battled depression and would not continue with her education. She has struggled to find a job and finds it hard to keep relationships with men.

Speaking about when the abuse began, the grandmother said: “We thought she just had a crush on a teacher for a number of years and it was only when she saw that advert and exploded did we find out the truth.

“This is all about grooming. He is not a predator who attacks women in alleyways. He groomed these girls so they would fall in love with him and be so besotted with him they would do anything he asked.

“My granddaughter was only young when it started – she was still a little girl. He told them they were beautiful, they were lovely.

“He was a good looking bloke but he abused his position of trust in the most terrible way. Children, especially little girls, trust their teachers and so do the parents.

“What he did has left those girls totally and utterly devastated.

“My granddaughter showed great courage to come forward like she did. She had to endure a two-hour video interview with the police where she had to go through all the explicit details. But she wanted to come forward to protect other girls from him in the future.”

Speaking after the sentencing, she said: “I’m so upset; he will be out in two years’ time but these girls have got a life sentence.

“If he had mental problems he shouldn’t have been been employed as a teacher in the first place.”