James Heathcote , 26 , was jailed for five months after admitting inciting two girls to engage in sexual activity whilst in a position of trust . A supply teacher tried to pester two teenager schoolgirls into a threesome despite being warned about his flirty behaviour by colleagues , a court heard . James Heathcote , 26 , a former sports coach , was employed by St Helena School in Colchester , Essex , after being sacked from his previous job when a female colleague accused him of sexually harassment . While there he groomed two besotted pupils and pestered them to fulfill his fantasy of having a threesome . The supply teacher even exposed himself to the pair over a webcam as he traded explicit messages referring to bondage and strip tease fantasies . He was only caught when a fellow pupil reported the explicit messages before he could convince the impressionable girls to go through with his plan . Heathcote , from Felixstowe , Suffolk , fought back tears in the dock at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday as he was jailed for five months . He was also ordered to sign the sexual offenders register for seven years . Heathcote admitted two charges of inciting two girls to engage in sexual activity whilst in a position of trust but denied a third charge of sexual touching , involving allegedly kissing a pupil , which will now lie on file . As he passed sentence Judge David Turner QC said : 'Young women in school are entitled to be protected - even from themselves . 'You were the subject of some attention from female pupils and you may have found that flattering , but you should not have acted on it . 'You exchanged messages that were plainly , openly and explicitly sexual . 'You made references to bed , sex , intercourse , tying up and 'banging ' . 'The sexual nature of these messages is unmistakable . 'You had asked for a 'threesome ' with the young women , which they refused . 'It needs to be understood that people in a school setting owe a duty of care to the young people in their charge . 'You have fallen far short in that duty . ' Heathcote joined the school as a part-time supply teacher in Spring 2013 before taking up a full time role in September 2013 and moving into a house on school property . His flirty nature with pupils was noted by colleagues who warned him to discourage his young female admirers . He ignored the advice before swapping phone numbers with two female schoolgirls in October 2013 when they complained about struggling with exam stress . A judge said Heathcote had 'fallen far short ' of his duty when he groomed the two besotted teenagers . The messages soon spread onto social media sites , including Instagram and Facebook , where the exchanges became sexual in nature as he begged the girls to share intimate pictures . On one occasion he even exposed himself to both girls whilst chatting to them on FaceTime as they sat in their nightwear . Allan Compton , prosecuting , said : 'Police went through some of the Facebook messages to one girl which did contain significant sexual content . 'The messages described fantasies about being tied up , strip tease , as well as fantasies about having a threesome . ' By January 2014 , Heathcote had suggested a threesome to both girls and bombarded one with a staggering 242 text messages over a seven day period . Both had admitted during the exchanges that they would have sex with him separately but refused his request of a threesome . The explicit messaging only ended when a fellow pupil reported her suspicions and police were called in . Heathcote joined St Helena School , Chelmsford , pictured , as a part-time supply teacher in Spring 2013 . Heathcote was arrested and contacted both girls asking them to delete all messages in a failed bid to cover his tracks . Mr Compton added : 'The aggravating features of this offending include the use of grooming behaviour and the soliciting of sexual images from the girls . 'There is , within the last text , an element of cover up when he invites them to delete text messages . 'It would appear that arrangements had been put in place to escalate to full sexual activity but , thankfully , it did not . ' The court heard how Heathcote had been dismissed from a previous role as a school sports coach in October 2012 following an allegation of sexual harassment from an adult female work colleague . Peter Barlex , mitigating , said his client had been working as a cover supervisor at the school full-time since September 2013 . He said : 'This was a situation that got out of hand . 'It is something he bitterly regrets ever getting involved in . 'This was a profession he had really set his sights upon but which has now gone . ' Heathcote was jailed for five months and was made to sign onto the sex offenders register for seven years . He was also made the subject of a 10-year sexual harm prevention order banning him from unsupervised contact with under 18s without a guardian 's consent . St Helena School is a secondary school in Colchester , Essex , with more than 1,000 pupils . A spokesman for the school said : 'Mr Heathcote is no longer an employee of St Helena School , having been dismissed in July 2014 . 'The safety and wellbeing of students is the school 's top priority and the school followed all the correct and required procedures in its pre-employment checks . 'As soon as a safeguarding concern was raised , the school alerted the police and local authority immediately and suspended Mr Heathcote . '
James Heathcote , 26 , jailed for five months at Chelmsford Crown Court . Was working as a supply teacher at Colchester , St Helena School . Warned by colleagues about his flirty behaviour with teenage pupils . Caught attempting to arrange threesome with two schoolgirls . Dismissed from previous role after allegations of sexual harassment . Admitted inciting girls to engage in sexual activity whilst in position of trust .