A KINGSWINFORD driving instructor has been found guilty of a string of sickening sex attacks on teenage male pupils during lessons.

Gary Rolinson was told by a judge he is facing a long spell behind bars after a jury convicted him of grooming teenaged boys.

Judge Andrew Lockhart QC said it was clear Rolinson was behind a "campaign of assaults on young men while in a position of trust."

He said the 60-year-old had groomed his victims who were aged 17 and 18 and there were "numerous" planned offences carried out over a two year period.

Rolinson, he ruled, had to be assessed for dangerousness before he could be sentenced for his crimes while his victims had to be asked how badly their lives had been affected by his actions.

The driving instructor who taught pupils in Brierley Hill, Stourbridge and Kingswinford had been questioned by police in July 2012 when one of his pupils made a complaint to officers.

The matter went no further because of a lack of evidence but when a second teenager made a complaint in November 2014 a full investigation was launched.

Detective Constable Fiona Hatfield of Dudley's Child Abuse Investigation Unit got hold of Rolinson's work diaries and 750 letters were sent out to all the people he taught to drive.

She describe Rolinson's victims as "decent, young lads" from good families and commended them for their bravery in coming forward to give evidence to the jury at his trial.

Dc Hatfield said: "They all found it a nerve wracking experience, they had to bring back all the intimate details to the court and they conducted themselves very well."

She said Rolinson became a driving instructor in 2008 after being made redundant from his job with Rover and he ran his school called 500+ from his home in Andover Road, Kingswinford.

She added: "I had his diaries and I went through three years of lessons. Letters were sent to 750 former pupils and they were simply asked if there had been any problems with the instructor."

The officer said police received a number of replies detailing what had happened from people who had not known what to do at the time of the incidents.

Rolinson had denied 14 charges of sexual assault and another of causing a person to engage in sexual activity.

At Wolverhampton Crown Court he was found guilty on 13 of the assault charges and on the other charge after the nine man, three woman panel retired for seven-and-a-half hours to consider the evidence on the fourteenth day of the trial.

The jury reached unanimous verdicts on the assault charges against Rolinson but returned an 11-1 majority verdict on the engaging a person to engage in sexual activity charge.

The judge remanded Rolinson on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report and said he would probably finalise the case before March 14 at Leamington Crown Court.

He told Rolinson "emotions were raw" and he needed to consider the matter very carefully before sentencing but added: "He knows where he will be going."

The told Rolinson it was important he used his time fruitfully while he "prepared for the inevitable"

Rolinson, he said, had carried on offending after failing to heed the warning he was given when he was first questioned by police.

He said he had to sign the Sex Offenders Register immediately and told the members of the jury: "A case like this is rare. Do not worry about your children having driving lessons or going out late at night"

Rolinson in evidence had maintained to the jury there had been no sexual contact with any of the victims and he said he was totally innocent on all charges.

The court was told there had been six victims while a seventh was named in the one sexual assault charge in which he was cleared by the jury.

The judge said the pre-sentence report would also consider the ability of Rolinson to be able to work in the future.