Simon Murch Sheffield: Monteney Primary School bosses say teacher rape case involved no past or present pupils

The trust which runs the Sheffield school which employed a teacher who has admitted raping a child in Stoke, says it will work closely with police over the case.

Simon Murch, aged 54, from Sheffield, was a teacher at Monteney Primary School, in Parson Cross, and has pleaded guilty to the rape of a child aged under 13.

The victim in the case cannot be identified for legal reasons.

But the Steel City Schools Partnership trust, which runs the school where he worked, has stressed that the case did not relate to any past or present pupils at Monteney.

The trust confirmed that at the pre-trial plea hearing at Stoke Crown Court on Monday September 4, a guilty plea was made by a member of staff from Monteney Primary, and that sentencing is due to take place in late November.

On behalf of Steel City Schools Partnership and Monteney Primary, the trust chief executive Nicola Shipman, said: "We continue to work closely with all agencies, including Staffordshire police.

"We can confirm that this matter does not relate to any child, past or present, within Monteney Primary or Steel City Schools Partnership. No further statement will be made at this time."

On its website, the multi academy trust, which runs 10 schools across the city, says that all the SCSP academies are at the heart of the community they serve, aiming to offer the very best education, support and care; within an environment of inspiration and innovation, underpinned by the highest expectations.