July 2010

Paedophile martial arts instructor abused pupils by playing ‘dungeon master’ game at Ju Jitsu school 

A sword-wielding martial arts instructor used his Ju Jitsu school as a paedophile’s lair by introducing a fantasy game in which played the ‘dungeon master.’  

Nicholas Tuley, 43, ‘corrupted’ and molested young pupils after gaining their trust during special classes he held to improve their self-defence techniques.

He was said to have targeted the most vulnerable boys in his classes and used his martial arts skills to physically overpower them during make believe games when he could get them alone.

Police who eventually unmasked his double life discovered Tuley had been allowed to train in Ju Jitsu and was a master in the sword art of Iaido despite having a conviction for the sexual assault of a boy in 1989.

The shamed teacher of Christchurch Street, Preston, Lancs wept as he was told he may never be released from jail after a judge deemed him a ‘significant risk’ to the public and locked him away indefinitely.

He must serve a minimum of ten and a half years before being considered for parole.

Judge Heather Lloyd told Tuley: ‘You corrupted those children in the true sense of the word whilst all the time having a veneer of respectability.

‘Anyone who hears of your victims cannot fail to feel the pain and fear that they experienced during this period.

‘You appeared to be an upright member of society who exhibited ‘strong moral character and personal integrity.’ 

‘No doubt the fact that you appeared to have strong moral integrity was what the Ju Jitsu thought too. 

‘You had access to those boys and you had the trust of their parents who sent their children to that club for tuition. 

‘But in fact or many years you abused those boys and you abused that trust in a serious fashion.

‘It was sexual abuse of the worst kind. You were physically dominant. You were able to do what you did through your physical strength and emotional hold on them.

‘The emotional impact on these children should not and will not be underestimated. 

‘It was you all along who was living a lie. You say you have lived your life by a set of Christian morals – there is nothing Christian about your behaviour at all.’

Earlier prosecutor Mr Duncan Birrell said the offences occurred from 1993 to 2007 whilst Tuley was running a Ju Jitsu club on Fylde Road, Preston where he instructed pupils as young as seven.

The court heard Tuley’s first victim joined the club because he wanted to ‘toughen up’ after he had suffered a violent childhood and he wanted to learn how to protect himself.

But from the age of 12 he was subjected to sexual abuse by Tuley who invited him to his own home and showed him pornography.

Mr Birrell went on: ‘It is a feature of the case that in addition to the Ju Jitsu the defendant offered through the club other activities involving the youngsters that became members.

‘This offered an extensive opportunity to identify those likely to be most vulnerable and integrate himself into their lives and abuse them sexually. 

‘We say he did this repeatedly over a number of years.

‘Ju Jitsu involves throwing and immobilising techniques – that meant he had many opportunities to physically take hold of the children and dominate those children who became his victims.

‘It also meant that physically taking hold of his victims was not unexpected or unusual.

‘It is also a feature that in the dungeons and dragons game he was the dungeon master and he was in control of the scenarios that the children played.’

Tuley, the court heard, followed the same pattern of abuse with another boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, when he was aged just 10, progressing to more serious abuse over a period of eight years.

Tuley’s third victim was just 13 when he was sexually abused in the shower of the club, and then at Tuley’s home address where the abuse escalated .

His fourth victim was 15, the court heard, when Tuley offered to buy him a game, if he let him ‘spank’ the boy. 

The court heard that Tuley was conditionally discharged from court in 1989 after he indecently assaulted a boy aged 14.

Defending Mr Mark Stephenson said: ‘Nicholas Tuley makes it clear that he needs to be punished. He is open and willing to take any help that can be given to him.

‘There are many other people that he taught who didn’t complain about him in a negative way who speak of him in very positive terms. 

‘It is his flaws that led him not to be able to act in the same way towards all the individuals who came to him.’

Tuley was placed on the sex offenders register for life and banned from working with children and vulnerable adults again.

A spokesperson for the Ju Jitsu foundation said: ‘The Jitsu foundation is a not-for-profit organisation which continually reviews its procedures to ensure the safety and welfare of its junior members, as child protection is paramount.

‘Since June 2004 the Jitsu foundation’s policy has been to carry out CRB checks on its instructors prior to issuing instructors with teaching mandates.

‘All visiting instructors are also subject to the same rigorous background checks before being allowed on a junior jitsu mat.’

It is understood that when the CRB checks were brought into the Jitsu foundation, Tuley resigned as a teacher, to evade the test, but remained at the centre as a caretaker.

Det Insp Jonathan Holmes, of Lancashire Police said: ‘Tuley was pitiless in his approach to his victims. He had no pity – he was in pursuit of self-gratification.’