'We were strangers until we helped bring a paedophile to justice'

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. 'We were strangers until we helped bring a paedophile to justice'4 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleIta DunganBBC News NIBBCNicola Bannon (left) and Lynne Darcy (right) were sexually assaulted by the same history teacherIn November 2019 Nicola Bannon and Lynne Darcy didn't even know each other. Six years later they believe they have helped bring a paedophile to justice. They, along with four other women, took a case accusing their former history teacher William Lloyd-Lavery of sexual abuse.

Lloyd-Lavery, 77, of Richmond Avenue in Lisburn, was found guilty of six counts of indecent assault in January against four girls aged between 13 and 14. He was sentenced to two years in prison. The former grammar school teacher and political press officer worked at Richmond Lodge school in Belfast during the 1970s.

The Details

After the sentencing, Nicola and Lynne waived their right to anonymity to speak publicly about their experiences. Nicola BannonNicola Bannon as a young teenagerGiving evidence at the trial, Nicola described her assault as being "hunted like prey" by a man for "his own sexual gratification". She described how Lloyd-Lavery had ordered her to follow him into a small stationery room, where he lifted her up in a "vice-like grip" on the pretence of looking for a book.

"My bottom was right in his face. It was really degrading and humiliating. "She said that as she was lowered down, her skirt came up and it was then that he "put his hands inside my underwear".

Previous acquittal Nicola was the first former pupil of Richmond Lodge to report William Lloyd-Lavery to the police. She came forward in 2019 after seeing a news report about her former history teacher being acquitted of 13 sex offences against a boy. Those offences dated back to the 1980s.

What Experts Say

"I went to the police because I'd always promised myself that if I ever heard that he touched another child again, that I would come forward straight away," she said. After talking to the police, she joined a Facebook group for former pupils of Richmond Lodge and posted a message in which she said she had spoken to child abuse experts in the PSNI. She went on to ask others if they had been abused by Lloyd-Lavery to report it to the police.

By the end of that day the six women who would go on to take a case against him had contacted her. When the case came to trial in January 2026, Lloyd-Lavery was found guilty of indecently assaulting four school girls aged between 13 and 14 between 1974 and 1979. 'Do you mind me doing this?

'One of those girls was Lynne Darcy. During the trial she recounted an occasion where Lloyd-Lavery had summoned her to discuss a history test. He went on to assault her in the same store room as Nicola.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.