A DRIVING instructor found guilty on five counts of sexually assaulting his students has been jailed.

Derek Booth, 49, of Coed Mor, Pen-y-ffordd near Holywell, had previously faced 11 counts in total of sex attacks on five of his female learner drivers in a trial at Chester Crown Court.

The jury found Booth guilty on five counts against three of his students and not guilty on the remaining six counts.

He was sentenced to 12 months in prison when he appeared for sentencing before Judge Robert Trevor-Jones at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, October 11.

In addition, he was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

The offences took place between June 2016 and February 2018, when Booth was employed at a driving school in Ellesmere Port before being arrested.

They came to light after one of the victims broke down at work the day after taking a lesson with Booth in January 2018 and told a work colleague Booth had been messaging her for sex and “rubbed” her.

The victim’s father contacted police. Detective Constable Timothy Cope contacted Booth’s other students to determine if others had been sexually assaulted.

Four further witnesses came forward providing evidence against Booth and the jury ruled two of them had been sexually assaulted.