Guildhall School of Music teacher jailed for sex attacks

64-year-old Philip Picket has been jailed for 11 years for sex attacks on two schoolgirls and a young woman in the 1970s and 1980s.

17:34 23 February 2015

64-year-old Philip Picket, an internationally renowned music teacher, has been jailed for 11 years for sex attacks on two schoolgirls and a young woman in a sound-proof practice rooms. The attacks were carried out between 1970s and 1980s and while he was a teacher at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

 

He was found guilty at the Old Bailey on February 10.

 

The court heard that Picket lured pupils into practice room where no one would hear them scream as he shut the door, turned out the light and assaulted them.

 

The first victim, who was 16 year old at the time of the attack, said that she went to school in 1978 to record with Picket. She was asked to take her top off and was ordered to lie on the floor where she was assaulted. The following week, Picket raped her.

 

The judge said: "You were this woman and these schoolgirls' teacher, to a degree they were in awe of you, especially the schoolgirls, and, as far as they were concerned, this was specific targeting of a vulnerable victim, a girl you were teaching and you had power over who would be reluctant to complain and most unlikely to complain.

"Even if they shouted, they could not be heard, as you knew well, having got them on their own and shut the door.

"The impact of these very serious sexual offences must have been very great indeed."