For many decades, Neil Harris abused his position as a dance and gymnastics teacher to sexually assault and abuse his vulnerable victims. In June 2020 he was jailed for a second time. Some of Harris’s victims have told of the impact the childhood attacks have had on their lives.
Harris’s job at his mother’s Birmingham dance school, which he later took over after her death, left him in a unique position to prey on pupils. He remained unchecked and not monitored for many years allowing him to abuse his position of trust and power and manipulate the situations he placed children in.
His behaviour and actions went unchallenged as he was often the only adult present. Police said as he ran his mother’s business, which then became his business, it was likely he would not have conducted any Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks.
Harris was jailed in January 2018 and in June 2020 for sex offences. But before that his actions went unchecked for years, with criminal records checks – now commonplace for adults working with children – unlikely to have taken place, police have said.
Those who suffered at the hands of Harris are entitled to seek compensation to procure specialist therapy and treatment but also to be compensated for the assaults themselves.
Remedy Law currently represent a number of individuals who also suffered at the hands of gymnastics, athletics of sporting club teachers. If you or a loved one would like to discuss matters in further detail then please contact us for a confidential consultation.