Former teacher denies sexually assaulting teenager after offering her a lift home

Gareth Ritter, a former assistant head teacher who appeared in Channel 4’s *Educating Cardiff*, is on trial accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl after offering her a lift home in 2015. He denies the charge; the complainant told Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court that he took her to a flat in Cardiff Bay and touched and kissed her without consent.

The court heard that Ritter allegedly made comments about her appearance, asked her to see the bedroom and later told her to keep what happened between them. She said she felt uncomfortable and unable to leave. In a separate case in December 2024, Ritter pleaded guilty to possessing two sets of indecent images of the woman and distributing images of her, which she said had been shared without her knowledge or permission.