Beast teacher caged for abusing 12 boys over 10-year period
An award-winning teacher has been jailed for four years for grooming and sexually assaulting 12 of his pupils.
Martin Gallacher duped colleagues into believing he was "the perfect teacher" and he won a "best teacher" award because he appeared to be so good.
But he was secretly a scheming sex offender who was "hiding in plain sight" and preyed on the vulnerabilities of young boys.
His abuse of the youngsters was so bad that one of them considered committing suicide because of the trauma.
The unrepentant sex offender abused them through his role as a computing teacher at Paisley Grammar School between 2015 and 2024.
He has now been placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life, banned from approaching or contacting his victims, and had limits placed on his freedoms once released from custody.
When he appeared at Paisley Sheriff Court today, Monday, October 19, 2026, to be sentenced, a sheriff said he would still be abusing pupils if not for the bravery of the first victim to come forward.
The 46-year-old denied any wrongdoing, claiming he had touched boys innocently through his roles as a teacher, club organiser or football coach.
But a jury convicted him of targeting the teenagers during lessons, at a lunch club and badminton club he ran, and while he was coach of a school football team.
He targeted boys in lessons or when they were alone, contacted some on messaging platforms PlayStation, Discord, Steam and Snapchat, and gave some gifts and money.
He was found guilty of grooming and abusing the youngsters, rubbing them on their shoulders, back, legs and thighs, and touching some of their privates and performing sex acts on them.
As he jailed Gallacher, of Paisley, Renfrewshire, for four years today, Sheriff Eoin McGinty said: "You continue to deny the offences.
"This was serious sexual offending committed on your pupils.
"As with any teacher, you were occupying a heightened position of trust and responsibility.
"This is a profound breach of that trust.
"Pupils are entitled to have trust in their teachers as people who will safeguard their welfare.
"Parents entrust teachers with the care and responsibility of their children."
He said that Gallacher's crimes had "cast a shadow" over his colleagues.
And he praised the bravery and determination of the victims who came forward to get justice - and said without them Gallacher would still be preying on pupils in his class.
He said: "I commend the victim who first reported the abuse to a teacher and then to his mother and the police.
"But for his actions, and his mother's determination, you would, in all likelihood, have continued to offend.
"One of your victims was especially vulnerable.
"This was a vulnerability that you latched onto and exploited.
"You abused boys within the classroom. You did so surreptitiously, behind your big desk - you were hiding in plain sight."
Gallacher was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life and was made the subject of a 10-year-long Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).
The SHPO places limitations on his freedoms and online activities once he is released from jail over his crimes.
And he was made the subject of a 10-year-long Non-Harassment Order (NHO), banning him from approaching or contacting any of his victims.
Sheriff McGinty said he had imposed the NHO as he had been in contact with some of his victims through online messaging platforms.
Gallacher, who has been held in segregation since being remanded in custody, showed no emotion as he was told his sentence.
He appeared in the dock in a black suit and open necked white shirt and did not look at his parents, who were in the public gallery, as he was led away to begin his sentence.
He walks with a limp due to having "mild cerebral palsy" and hobbled down the stairs to the cells while handcuffed to a custody officer.
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