The Teacher's Trial

Thank you so much for continuing to get voice to those who need it, and show up behaviours for what they are. I found AB’s first contact with Chris Dawson chilling - showing her the topless photo that was doing the rounds at school. Any male teacher concerned or even thinking that AB should know, would have given the photo to a mature female teacher to discuss with AB. Even all those years ago. That it occurred at the beginning of his time as her teacher, a position that inherently has the understanding that a student does what the teacher says, shows how much of a velvet boxing glove he used. It wasn’t fatherly, it was the social equivalent of a football tackle. And to a child. Knowing too, from the past trial, that he will tell her later that he decided not to pay a hit man to get Lynette out of the way - he had so many ways of softly threatening her. Telling her that he didn’t want innocent people hurt. She thought how nice - because she was a child. How could she consciously realise that he had also told her that that was something he was prepared to consider for people who got in the way of him having what he wanted. One wonders who the innocent people he referred to were. But I imagine, somewhere deep inside her she registered this. I deeply applaud her courage.

Brilliantly done! Episodes go for the right amount of time! Keep up the amazing work!!

Absolutely fabulous. What a team - what a podcast !! Makes me cringe to hear AB refer to herself and friends as the cool group and can’t help but think that the attention from her teacher may have been flattering at the time. Preceded by turbulence in our home, My parents separated when I was 15 but I can say with certainty that i retained a strong sense of wrong and right and would have known that sleeping with my married teacher was wrong. My heart breaks for the daughters

The Teachers Pet brought to a wider public the circumstances around Lyn Dawson’s disappearance. And fortunately with current understandings of family violence in all it’s forms, of child protection, and of narcissistic entitlement, attitudes have changed and Lynnette’s plight is not brushed aside solely on the explanation of her husband. In some ways both podcasts have benefited from being made recently because of these newer recognitions. Thankyou to the podcast team for insightful and dogged sleuthing and reporting. It’s so sad for Lyn that not only was she killed but her memory tarnished. I feel so bothered and distressed for her daughters that they not only were deprived of an adoring mother, but that he willingly and actively destroyed their perceptions of her. And now, because this podcast and sleuths such as Damian Loone gave voice to those young people targeted by teacher pedophiles, more people are coming forward to say what happened to them. So gutsy!! Full of admiration for everyone involved in righting wrongs.