Ex-police chief and teacher lover jailed after ‘grotesque’ sexual abuse of boy

A former head of corporate communications for Humberside Police and a school drama teacher have been jailed following a conviction for a series of "horrendous" and "grotesque" sexual offences against a boy.

At Hull Crown Court, 40-year-old David Drury was sentenced to nine years in prison. His partner, 44-year-old Daniel Sellers, a former head of drama at an East Yorkshire school, was sentenced to four and a half years for aiding and abetting Drury's "shameful" behaviour.

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Both men were also ordered to register as sex offenders indefinitely.

The court heard that the offending took place during a relationship between the two men that began around late 2010 and early 2011, Hull Live reported.

Drury, 40, of Thoresby Street, off Princes Avenue, west Hull, admitted two offences of sexual assault, one offence of sexual assault of a child under 13, voyeurism and six offences of distributing indecent images of children.

His boyfriend, Sellers, 44, also of Thoresby Street, admitted arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sexual offence and two charges of aiding and abetting offences of sexual assault.

The investigation into the pair began when Gwent Police contacted Humberside Police regarding Drury’s online activity.

Investigators discovered that Drury had used Amazon vouchers on three occasions to purchase more than 400 indecent images of children from another man.

Upon his initial arrest, Drury denied the allegations to police, claiming, "I have not done any of that."

While he admitted liking "dirty chat," he strictly denied having any sexual interest in children, claiming he could not remember sending anyone an Amazon voucher and suggested his account had been hacked.

Eleanor Durdy, prosecuting, detailed how a forensic examination of seized electronic devices quickly disproved his claims.

Police uncovered extensive exchanges of illicit material between Drury and other users, including a video and multiple images of a teenage boy engaged in sexual activity.

On one specific device, officers found 28 indecent images and videos of the boy, which included three classified under the most severe Category A, one in Category B and 24 in Category C.

"This was deliberate sexual touching," Miss Durdy told the court, noting that text logs between Drury and Sellers revealed explicit conversations about "what they would like to do and had done" to the boy, as well as their "sexual desires."

Defence representatives for both men noted that their clients had no prior convictions and had both permanently lost their careers as a result of the case.

David Godfrey, mitigating for Drury, did not dispute the severity of the crimes, admitting to the court that "it's truly shameful stuff" and "some of the darkest material you could imagine".

He said that Drury had chosen to plead guilty rather than "chancing his arm" during a trial, adding that his client's expressed remorse felt genuine.

"He wishes me to say sorry on his behalf," Mr Godfrey said. "It needs to be said and he wants me to say it on his behalf. This is somebody who entered a period of darkness in his 30s. He wants to understand why he did what he did and he wants to work with the agencies."

Julia Baggs, representing Sellers, stated that her client fully understood that it was "serious and deeply unpleasant behaviour" and was suffering the loss of his career.

"He is deeply remorseful and he understands the impact," Miss Baggs said, adding that "he has never been in custody before" and "has voluntarily desisted from his drug use."

She added that Sellers had actively sought talking therapy and counselling to assist in moving beyond his offending behaviour.

Both men had been on bail until being jailed.