Actor jailed for raping schoolgirl he was tutoring

Alexander Westwood appeared as an unnamed student in 17 episodes of Sex Education

An actor who appeared in Netflix series Sex Education has been jailed for sex offences, including raping a schoolgirl who came to him for acting lessons.

Alexander Westwood was convicted of 26 crimes against children and two pupils who attended his acting tuition, with one child being targeted over eight years.

The 24-year-old, of Shropshire, was described in court as "manipulative and predatory" and jurors were told his repeated offending against five victims was "a habit, a lifestyle".

Sentencing Westwood to 15 and a half years custody at Wolverhampton Crown Court, Judge Neil Chawla said he used his minor celebrity status to prey on impressionable, innocent, young girls.

Westwood, who also appeared in the BBC's Doctors series, smirked in the dock as details of his behaviour were read out.

He was found guilty in December of sexual offences against a young child, a boy aged between nine and 10, two teenage girls who came to him for help with acting and a woman.

The judge said his "campaign of sexual offending" had "devastating consequences for the five victims" adding the actor had displayed a "seemingly nonchalant attitude" that bordered on "arrogance".

Prosecutors described Westwood as "manipulative and controlling"

Warning: Some people may find details in this story distressing.

Westwood's abuse of his youngest victim started when she was six years old and he was 10, with prosecutor Andrew Wallace saying it led to years of "the normalisation of sexual abuse".

Between November 2020 and September 2021, Westwood, from Albrighton raped and sexually assaulted an acting student who had lessons with him, as well as inciting her to engage in sexual activity.

She was made to strip while doing a monologue by Ophelia from Hamlet, the court heard.

He also talked to the girl about a sex scene from the 1991 film Frankie and Johnny and a masturbation scene from Bridgerton.

The actor would touch her and touch himself, and he raped her, Mr Wallace said.

He added Westwood had threatened to go to the principal of the Birmingham drama school the girl wanted to attend, if she stopped her acting lessons with him.

He made her sign a contract and said she would owe him as much as £18,000 or £36,000 if she broke it.

Westwood's victims said they had suffered from panic attacks, claustrophobia and anxiety since his abuse

His abuse of the second teenager overlapped, occurring between May and August 2021.

She was forced to act out "inappropriate" scripts, including a Greek incest scene and Westwood made her strip, touching her breasts and vagina.

She said she felt "disgusted".

The court also heard that Westwood encouraged a young boy to touch himself as part of a "game", when the actor was 18 years old and the boy was 10.

He was also "highly manipulative and controlling" towards a woman whom he held down "every few weeks", despite her telling him she did not want to have sex.

Panic attacks

Three of Westwood's female victims in court for the sentencing supported each other as they read statements about the effects of his abuse.

The first student said she had had panic attacks since the abuse and she had come to "despise everything to do with acting, even though it was my passion".

Other victims spoke of suffering from claustrophobia and anxiety, as well as having low self-esteem.

Westwood could have faced 77 counts against him, but it would have been "unwieldy" to prosecute so they were condensed down to 26, Mr Wallace said.

Westwood's sentences for 11 of the 26 counts were reduced by half because he was a minor when the offences were committed.

The judge also issued restraining orders with regards to all five victims and there was applause from the court when sentencing finished.