Gareth is convinced that his memories are true and that there are plenty of witnesses who can corroborate his story, so why will no one help him? You can find out more about Tortoise:Download the Tortoise app - for a listening experience curated by our journalistsSubscribe to Tortoise+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free contentBecome a member and get access to all of Tortoise's premium audio offerings and moreIf you want to get in touch with us directly about a story, or tell us more about the stories you want to hear about contact [email protected] and produced by: Chloe Hadjimatheou and Gary MarshallSound design: Hannah VarrallPodcast artwork: Lola WilliamsExecutive producer: Basia Cummings Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Chapter 1: What content warnings should listeners be aware of for this episode?
Just a warning before we start. This episode includes descriptions of sexual abuse and strong language. Last time on Lucky Boy.
I mean, everybody knew when Bowen hit Christ College. Alarm bells started going off because I remember being at school at this time and there being all these rooms.
Heads were close together, we were looking at each other and then I just started kissing. Well, she's got 900 kids there and she selects me. I thought I was something special. I was, I just didn't know what kind of special that meant.
Chapter 2: Why is it difficult for Gareth to find corroborating witnesses?
So I don't know whether it would surprise you to know that it's been incredibly hard to get people to talk to me for this series.
Yeah, I'm not surprised.
Why?
I think most people probably just think it was a long time ago, different era, things were more acceptable.
Chapter 3: Who is Gavin and why is his testimony important?
The way I found this guy, Gavin, was really just the result of a numbers game. I called so many former Christ College pupils that I was bound to find someone who'd talk to me in the end. And it's a good thing he picked up the phone, because I do need people to talk, to tell me what they remember about Miss Bowen. It's important to say that Gareth's account seems credible to me.
I've spent hours with him going over his story and he's frank about what he can and can't recall from the time. Even so, memory's a tricky thing, affected by all sorts of factors. Not least that what he remembers was seen through the eyes of a 14-year-old, a child whose lack of experience and judgement could have blurred context or nuance.
And when he sits in front of me to tell me about Miss Bowen, his memories are almost all he can rely on. There's no ring binder full of hard evidence he can show me. I've tried to follow leads. There was a painter decorator Gareth says was working in Miss Bowen's house once and told him he heard them having sex.
I got as far as tracking down the now deceased landlord's daughter, but she had no idea who her dad might have hired. There are so many avenues like this that just lead to dead ends. Clues and evidence lost in the passage of time. There is one thing, though, that can help both of us.
Witnesses from the school who could help me work out exactly what happened and why and help Gareth in his quest for justice. And he's adamant there are plenty of them. I'm calling you because... Given how widespread the rumours about Gareth and the chemistry teacher seem to be, I imagined this would be pretty straightforward. I could not have been more wrong.
Almost as soon as I start calling round, I hit a wall. And see if you might be able to help me a little bit.
Chloe, I know who you are now, OK? And I think we'll just leave it there.
Lots of people respond like this. Weird, but I keep going down the list of people I know. And then friends of friends, until I find Gavin. These days, the work he does helps the police in their hunt for paedophiles and sex abusers. It's something he feels passionately about, and that's why he's agreed to talk to me.
I think it's important that these things are exposed. The audience that listen hopefully reaches somebody who might be in a similar experience, regardless of who's the perpetrator and who's the victim. There is always a victim in this.
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Chapter 4: What was the nature of Gareth's relationship with Miss Bowen?
And Gavin wasn't the only one who'd noticed.
So it wasn't spoken about, but everybody knew that there was something going on between the two of them.
So just describe that. What would it look like?
So the close conversations, so, you know, very physically close to each other, not holding hands, but flirting. You could see them then sort of walking off to areas that they wouldn't be disturbed.
Like where?
So either behind some of the buildings or to the north of the school, there was wooded areas. So they would go there independently and then meet up in there.
And you could see that happening?
Yeah.
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Chapter 5: How did rumors about Gareth and Miss Bowen spread?
Rumours are one thing, but what Gavin's telling me went beyond that. The relationship between Gareth and his teacher was on show, in plain sight. So there must be other witnesses, and some of them might know more. If I could, I'd get all the teachers and pupils in one room and ask them who knew what and when.
Did they discuss the fact that it was illegal for an adult to have sex with a child under the age of consent? And did anyone try and stop it? It feels a bit like planning a school reunion for a bunch of people who don't really want to show up.
As Gavin says, lots of former Christ College boys think this story's best left in the 80s, a different time when different attitudes prevailed, and who knows what really happened anyway. The thing is, back in 1988, when Miss Bowen first had sex with Gareth, it seems some people did know, and they knew it was wrong. And their failure to act to protect Gareth is still having consequences today.
I didn't know I was going to be abandoned. I certainly didn't know that I was going to make a whole load of adult enemies that had my life in their hands and decided to sort of like teach me a lesson, if you like. I didn't know any of that.
I'm Chloe Hadjimotheou, and from Tortoise, this is Lucky Boy. Episode two, The Relationship. Every morning when he's 14 years old, Gareth's mum wakes him up at the crack of dawn. He wolfs down his breakfast and rushes out the door to do a paper round before school. The extra pocket money comes in really useful. He mostly spends it on comics and sweets at the corner shop.
Not many of his mates have a job, so he's super proud of that paper round. That's the mornings. In the afternoons, Gareth's having sex with a 27-year-old woman. After the first time Miss Bowen lets Gareth into her room, it becomes a regular after-school activity.
After that, it was just pure sex every day.
This is happening around the spring of 1988, when he's in his fourth year at school. Year 10, we call it these days, or ninth grade in the US. While other boys are at cadets club or practising with the cricket team, Miss Bowen and Gareth get the bus together outside Christ College at 3.30. And then they walk up from the stop to the house she shares with other young professionals.
Did you tell her you loved her again?
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Chapter 6: What role did teachers and the school play in the alleged affair?
Yeah, for sure. For sure, always.
In May, it's Gareth's birthday. He remembers Miss Bowen being really pleased about it.
She tells him... It's not as bad now that you're 15. I mean, comments like that all the way through.
As in, it doesn't sound as bad for a woman of almost 30 to be having sex with a 15-year-old. Even so, it's clear she has some awareness that this is still not acceptable, because she's careful. Just before 6pm every evening, she makes him leave her place.
But if all you do is take your clothes off and get into bed, about an hour and 45 minutes seems a long time for a 14-year-old boy.
You never saw any of her flatmates?
No, never. Not one. Got through that front door, closed the door. That was it. She wouldn't even walk me to the tube station.
When Gareth's mum asks where he's been, he tells her he was with friends near his old house where he lived with his dad in Hendon. His best mate lives on an estate there. The friend's the only person Gareth's confided in. He hasn't told a single mate at Christ College School. And actually, it isn't that hard because Gareth's a misfit. He doesn't have a lot of friends at the school.
Perhaps that's one of the reasons Miss Bowen might have picked him out of the hundreds of boys there.
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Chapter 7: How did Gareth's family react to the situation?
Until this one day when someone breaks the silence. And the thing that really freaks him out is that it's a teacher and a good friend of Miss Bowen's at the school, Heather MacIsaac.
I think she told MacIsaac. I truly do. I think she told her and she knew for certain.
Another potential witness. She's one of the teachers who's invested time and effort in Gareth. She talks to him with respect and he likes her. So this day, the first time an adult actually acknowledges what he's been up to with a teacher, it's really etched on his memory.
I've still got an image in my head now. I was in the corridor in the upper school, not far away from the headmaster's office. I'm standing outside, being turfed as usual, probably for flicking something at someone or whatever I was doing.
Miss MacIsaac turns the corner and walks up towards him. And as she approaches him, she lowers her voice.
And she said, I know what's going on. And I was like, I know what's going on with you and Sally Ann. I think she actually said you and Miss Barryn.
And she says, it's not right what you two are doing. I don't agree with it. Then she just walks away. Gareth's frozen. He doesn't say a word. He's terrified of anything that might risk what he's got going on with Miss Bowen. But when he stops to think about it later, he realises he's got nothing to worry about. After all, Miss MacIsaac and Miss Bowen are really good friends.
She's not going to grass them up. Nearly 30 years later, when Gareth's looking for witnesses, Heather MacIsaac will say she has no memory of this. That as far as she's concerned, none of it ever happened. At this point, it's fair to assume that at least some of the teachers had suspicions about what was going on. As far as we know, they did nothing to put a stop to it.
In fact, there's only one person who ever really tried to blow the whistle on that relationship between Gareth and Miss Bowen. And she had nothing to do with the school.
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Chapter 8: What evidence exists regarding the school's knowledge of the affair?
Yeah, obviously.
That's why these rumours ring true for Philippa. Gareth's been acting distant, avoiding her and staying out after school. Until now, she's always put that down to teenage hormones.
Did you then think about speaking to the school? I spoke to the school on several terms and they didn't want to tell me anything. Who did you speak to at the school? Well, I spoke to Mr. Tinch because he was head of year and he was the only one that really I should be speaking to.
Desmond Tinch, Gareth's maths teacher. Tall and thin, with a no-nonsense kind of attitude, but most boys think he's a pretty decent guy. He's been counselling Gareth each week in his office, trying to help this bright boy reach his potential. So he seems like the obvious person for Philippa to call. What would you have said to him, do you think?
I'd say I'd heard the rumours and he would say, oh no, it's a load of nonsense. He denied it always. But I don't know, you can't get to speak to him, you won't get to speak to him. If you try to get him to say something, you won't, you won't get hold of him. Did you try to? Yes, many times.
I can believe that staff might not have had time to bother with every little rumour circulating round the playground. But this is different. From what Gareth's former classmate Gavin remembers, this is all happening in plain sight. For anyone paying attention, it's obvious.
And anyway, now a concerned parent is asking the school to investigate because she thinks there might be something to the rumours about her son and this teacher. You would imagine this would set off alarms, activating some kind of formal process, you know, internal procedures, that kind of thing.
But Philippa says when she does finally manage to talk to Mr Tinch, he tells her he isn't concerned about Miss Bowen and Gareth. He says there's something else he wants to investigate. What did Mr Tinch tell you? He said, do you think he's on something? Mr Tinch advises Philippa to check whether Gareth's on drugs.
He's just been told a member of staff may be having sex with a child and his response is to bat it back and ask if that child is doing something illegal. But Philippa's desperate to understand what's happening to her son, so she latches on to this. Maybe Mr Tinch is right. Her son's hostile behaviour, the lies, staying out late, these could all be signs he's on drugs.
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