Formby Man and Former Headteacher Jailed for Sexual Assault of Teenage Pupils

A former headteacher from Formby has been jailed for sexually assaulting three teenage girls at the school he ran.

Mark Bocker, 65, of Gores Lane, Formby, appeared at Burnley Crown Court on Thursday 7th August, where he was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison. He was also given an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

The court heard that the assaults took place between 2007 and 2016 at a school in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, where Bocker was headteacher. Following a trial last month, he was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

This was not Bocker’s first conviction. In March 2022, he appeared before the courts after admitting possession of indecent images of children. Police discovered images on one of his phones depicting the abuse of girls as young as eight years old. Thirteen images were classed as Category A – the most serious – 23 were Category B, and 46 were Category C. For that offence, he received a six-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was ordered to complete rehabilitation programmes.

Bocker had spent much of his career working in Merseyside schools and was once regarded as a safeguarding specialist. Before moving to Lancashire, he was head of a pupil referral unit in Knowsley, a specialist setting for pupils excluded from mainstream schools who require additional support. His expertise in behaviour management saw him gain a profile within the education sector, where he appeared on podcasts and at conferences discussing safeguarding and pupil behaviour.

It was also revealed that Bocker had served as chair of governors for a trust that runs a school in Formby and was a member of a number of education councils.

Speaking after the sentencing, Investigating Officer Amanda Gallery praised the courage of the victims in coming forward:

“First and foremost I would like to praise these girls for having the courage to come forward and report to us what happened to them. I hope the guilty verdicts and sentence give them some sense that justice has been done. I would encourage anyone who has been a victim of sexual offending, no matter how long ago, to come and speak to us, confident that we will investigate sensitively and professionally and will aim to put offenders before the courts.”

Bocker will now serve his sentence and remain subject to lifelong monitoring under the terms of the Sex Offenders Register.