Ex-teacher caught having sex in car with her pupil (17) moans about ...

Eppie Sprung Dawson was arrested after she was caught having sex with a 17-year-old pupil in a car layby by police on patrol in 2012.

Officers spotted the married teacher - who was 26-years-old at the time - after noticing condensation on the car windows.

The 38-year-old had met her victim while teaching English at St Joseph’s College in Dumfries, Scotland.

Sprung Dawson was charged and pleaded guilty to a breach of trust and was placed on the sex offenders register for six months.

She was also struck off the teaching register and given a six-month community payback order.

However, Sprung Dawson has now brought the case back into the public eye after phoning up a radio show to complain about being stigmatised by her criminal past.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland yesterday, Sprung Dawson said: “I have a conviction for a sexual offence.

“I was a teacher and I had an affair with a 17-year-old pupil, so I do have experience of, kind of, living with the challenges that a person can face as a result of having a criminal record.

"I never experienced a custodial sentence, but I certainly did experience stigma.

“I mean, I had an exceptionally large amount of press coverage, media coverage, for many, many years following my conviction.

“And I think I would say that was the most difficult thing I experienced.

“But I mean, of course, as with people with a conviction for a sexual offence particularly, face the highest degree of stigma.

“And so things like employment, even things like not being invited to my daughter’s friends’ birthday parties.”

During her sentencing hearing in 2012, Judge Sherriff George Jamieson slammed her for taking advantage of a teenager.

"You were there simply to teach but you have been called into temptation and you have committed adultery - your marriage is gone and your career as a teacher is gone.

“What you have been charged with is a breach of trust, and I cannot see that there is anything to be gained by a custodial sentence.

“Had it not been for the fact that you were this young man’s teacher, there would have been no criminality.”

Following her arrest, Sprung Dawson split from her husband and her ex-pupil moved in with her. He reportedly moved out three months later.

The ex-teacher has since set up Next Chapter Scotland, a charity that helps reformed criminals find work.

She has since re-married and said she set the charity up to show her kids she won't hide her past.

She said: "I'm aware they are going to have to face the stigma of my offence and it would be better for them to have a mum who is using that experience for good