Teacher charged with underage sex after 'three teenage girls are found in his flat'

By James Tozer

PE teacher Chris Drake was allegedly found with three students at this flat in Eccles, Manchester


A high-flying young teacher's career was in ruins today after allegedly being found with three schoolgirls in his flat in the middle of the night.

One of the girls is believed to have called at the home of 28-year-old Chris Drake - who was her head of PE - in the early hours, only to find two of her classmates there, sparking a furious row.

Neighbours were awoken by screams and shouts echoing through the building, and police were called, arriving to find two 15-year-olds and one 16-year-old at the flat.

Police are investigating whether he was secretly involved in relationships with all three but that the girl who turned up unexpectedly was unaware he was seeing the other two, and flew into a rage.

As well as teaching PE, he holds the title associate assistant headteacher at Hesketh Fletcher C of E High School in Atherton, Greater Manchester and is a member of its senior management team.

The extraordinary scene unfolded in the early hours of Valentine's Day morning at Mr Drake's £130,000 rented flat in a sedate, tree-lined road in nearby Eccles.

One neighbour said: 'It was about 4am when I was woken up by screaming and yelling - it sounded like a terrible row, everyone could hear it.

'We assumed it was just a couple of residents having a domestic, but I was appalled when I found out it was a teacher who had brought some schoolgirls back to his flat.

'The police have been asking questions about what we heard, but he hasn't lived in the building for very long so we don't know much about him.'

One of the girls - all of whom are thought to attend the school where Mr Drake teaches - is understood to have arrived at the flat in the early hours of Sunday morning.

It is not known whether she had to use the intercom to buzz her way in or whether she had the code to the front door and was able to get to the flat without alerting those inside.



Drake is a teacher at the Hesketh Fletcher High Scool in Manchester


But when she found out that two of her classmates were already there, a screaming match apparently broke out which resulted in police being called.

All three girls were still there when officers arrived, and Mr Drake was arrested on suspicion of sexual offences against them.

As two of the girls were aged under 16, he could face charges of unlawful sex with a child which carry a maximum sentence of 14 years' imprisonment.

However it is also a criminal offence for a teacher to engage in sexual behaviour with a pupil, with the charge of abuse of trust carrying up to five years in jail.

Hesketh Fletcher School was closed for half-term yesterday, and Wigan Council said it was still investigating the allegations against Mr Drake.

Pupils have been running a campaign against plans to shut the school and turn it into a further education college under which they would be sent to neighbouring secondaries.

In last summer's GCSEs, just 28 per cent of pupils attained five or more A*-C grades including English or maths, compared to the national average of just under 50 per cent.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: 'Around 4am on Sunday, we were called to a flat after reports of a disturbance.

'A 28-year-old man, two 15-year-old girls and a 16-year-old girl were in the flat.

'A 28-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of sexual offences, including abuse of trust and sex with a minor.'

Mr Drake faces 18 charges of sexual activity with a child and further charges of sexual activity with a child whilst in a position of trust, making threats to kill and common assault.

He is due to appear before magistrates in Salford today.

source: dailymail