Married RE teacher Owen Madivani, 46, has been jailed for raping another teacher at a hotel after she got drunk during a night out at an education conference
A married RE teacher has been jailed for rape amid claims the school where he worked mishandled previous complaints that he sexually assaulted women staff.
Owen Madivani raped another teacher at a hotel after she got drunk during a night out at an education conference.
Now it has emerged that before his arrest Zimbabwe-born Madivani was the subject of sexual complaints by three female staff at The Towers School and Sixth Form Centre in Ashford, Kent, where he worked.
The 46-year-old father of three stood trial at Blackfriars Crown Court last December and last month he was jailed for 34 months. He was also placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely.
He was originally accused not only of the rape of a teacher but also the attempted rape and sexual assault of another woman.
Madivani travelled to the Russell Hotel in Bloomsbury, central London, in June 2015 to take part in the conference.
Around 50 teachers – including the two middle-aged women who cannot be named for legal reasons – attended the two-day event. Neither worked at The Towers School.
Madivani had attended the conference the previous year where he had met both women.
The rape happened after a group went out for a meal on the night of June 4. The victim became drunk after drinking for more than four hours.
The woman told police that she and Madivani returned to their hotel and the ‘next thing she remembered’ was her attacker being on top of her in her bedroom and they were having sex.
She told prosecutors she repeatedly told him ‘no’ and tried to push him off her but he carried on with the assault before he left her.
The woman passed out. When she woke at around 7am, she contacted a friend to say she had been raped. Shortly after, Madivani knocked on her door and asked her to let him in because he had lost his bank card.
During their conversation, he is alleged to have told her: ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry – I can’t tell you not to tell people.’
The victim felt this implied he was asking her not to report the rape. Police also investigated separate allegations involving another woman at the conference who claimed he had attempted to rape her and sexually assaulted her in her room the day before, after they had enjoyed breakfast together.
Before his arrest Madivani was the subject of sexual complaints by three female staff at The Towers School and Sixth Form Centre in Ashford, Kent, (pictured) where he worked
During his trial he changed his plea to guilty on the rape allegation. The Crown Prosecution Service said it was then decided not to proceed with the other two charges.
Acting Detective Sergeant Paula Hill, the officer in the case, said: ‘ I would like to pay tribute to the victim who had the courage to quickly report this distressing assault to police.’ The Daily Mail has learned that one woman teacher at The Towers School claims to have been assaulted by Madivani after he allegedly began stalking her.
She has since left the school after reporting the incident to police and now teaches at another school.
Another female member of staff reported that Madivani had groped her bottom and she complained to the school. Another woman teacher is also believed to have complained to the principal, Richard Billings, that she had been inappropriately touched by Madivani and she has since left the school.
The women are understood to be unhappy that their complaints were not treated more seriously by senior school figures.
Members of the teaching unions are also said to be unhappy with how Mr Billings dealt with the alleged assaults.
Last night it was unclear if Madivani was suspended prior to his rape conviction or dismissed at an earlier date. The school refused to discuss both his rape trial and employment.
In a bid to cover-up the court case Mr Billings sent an email last week to staff urging them ‘not to discuss’ the matter with anyone ‘so not to attract the local Press.’
The school slogan is ‘Excellence in Everything’ and when Mr Billings was appointed in January 2014 he promised ‘vision, expectation, achievement and care’.
When asked about Madivani’s behaviour both inside and outside the school, he said: ‘I have had dealings with the Press before, therefore I am not prepared to comment about anything.’ Daily Mail
