AS a small red car pulled up outside her home in Stroud, Morgane Chapman, then aged 17, felt excited and nervous for her first driving lesson.
It was the start of a horrendous ordeal that would end with her standing in court, testifying against a who subjected her to “weird and creepy” sexual abuse, which shockingly proved just the tip of the iceberg.
Morgane Chapman was sexually abused by her driving instructor aged 17
Phoebe Horrocks was abused by the same driving instructor when she was 18
Michael Florek was a prolific serial abuser, preying on multiple women across Gloucestershire
It was September 2016, and Morgane couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel, get her licence and gain independence.
“He’s here!” she shouted to her parents, before they wished her luck for her first driving lesson.
Her instructor Michael Florek, 64, smiled and introduced himself. Morgane felt she was in safe hands as he was a reputable instructor in the area with decades of experience.
But unbeknown to Morgane, her life was about to change forever.
She had no idea that Florek was abusing his position of trust, harassing and sexually abusing his female students during lessons.
Florek was a prolific serial abuser, preying on multiple women across over 38 years whilst teaching.
Now Morgane, 25, and another one of Florek’s victims, Phoebe Horrocks, 25, are fighting for better protection of young women taking driving lessons with their organisation, Drive Change.
The pair claim there’s no safeguarding in place for learner drivers, and shockingly, instructors across the UK are not classed as being in a ‘position of trust’ for sex offenders laws, unlike teachers and sports coaches.
It comes after the BBC revealed a rise in the number of complaints to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) of inappropriate or sexual behaviour by instructors, jumping from 100 in 2020 to 131 in 2023.
Morgane, a music company receptionist, says: “My parents – Sue and David, then both 44 – had just gifted me lessons for my birthday.
“Michael said hello and seemed friendly and warm. As the lesson began, he immediately quizzed me on my life.
“Right after, he drove us to a quiet, isolated area. An industrial estate off an airfield in Stroud.
“I thought it was a weird, strange place to take me. He then told me to stand in front of the car to read a number plate in the distance.
“As I stood in front of the car, he watched me silently for a while before I could get back in.”
After that Morgane did a lesson with Florek once a week.
She says: “One day, as he was teaching me the gears, he held my hand on the gear stick.
“My heart jumped. I didn’t know if he was meant to hold my hand or not. I told myself it was normal.
“He asked if I had a boyfriend. I told him no. He then asked if I had my nipples pierced and I was lost for words.
“I awkwardly laughed and said no. After that lesson I’d decided Michael was beyond weird and creepy.
Florek was a driving instructor for 38 years
Morgane was afraid to tell anyone about Florek’s creepy behaviour and continued her lessons
“Something was very off about him. I thought he must’ve taken a strange liking to me, but not other students.”
From then on Morgane claims Florek’s inappropriate questions grew worse – even asking if she had an intimate piercing down below.
Morgane says: “I kept anxiously laughing his questions off. But it looked like he was getting aroused.
“Then another time, he was teaching me the blind spot and informed he was going to reach over my boobs.
“He groped my breasts as he showed me the blind spot. In shock, I froze up.
“I didn’t know if it was right, or normal. Back at home I was filled with dread each week as my lesson neared.
He groped my breasts as he showed me the blind spot. In shock, I froze up
Morgane
“I didn’t dare tell anyone in my family. I was too embarrassed.”
Desperate to pass her test so she could gain long-awaited independence and freedom, Morgane told herself she would only have to put up with Florek for a year.
During the rest of her lessons, whenever she had issues with clutch control, Florek would hold her inner thigh to help her.
She says: “He’d ask me if I could feel the clutch, whilst touching my thigh. I knew it was wrong and I just hoped for it all to be over soon.
“As I got closer to my test date, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could take with Michael.
“Weeks before, Michael told me he knew the examiner and that I needed to wear a short skirt and dress like a sl***y school-girl.
“He said it would distract him and the people at the test centre, then I could pass. All of his ex-students had apparently passed the first time this way.
In Florek’s driving ad he writes ‘safety behind the wheel is what matters’
“Determined to pass my test I listened and wore a tiny skirt. As he drove us to the test centre, in the corner of my eye, I could see Michael gawking at my legs.
“But during the test, with the examiner, I felt so silly and embarrassed. I ended up failing that day and was devastated.
“I was crying as I had to have more lessons with Michael, too.
“At Christmas, when would play on the radio, he’d tell me he wanted to see her having sex, bouncing on him.
“He always asked me if I’d taken naked photos. It continually made me want to jump out of the car. I was terrified, especially as he had no cameras.”
He always asked me if I’d taken naked photos. It continually made me want to jump out of the car. I was terrified, especially as he had no cameras
Morgane
Finally in October 2017, Morgane passed her test on her fourth go, aged 18.
Her parents gifted her a silver Mini Cooper, and she was relieved to be free from Florek.
Over the years she spotted Florek teaching other students in the area.
Determined to move on with her life, she ended up moving to Australia in January 2022, aged 23.
The truth revealed
When Morgane’s brother started driving with Florek, she revealed her trauma
Morgane went to the police and provided a statement
But as she visited home for Christmas that December, her mum broke some news.
Morgane says: “Mum told me my brother had a lesson with Michael. I felt sick.
“All the lessons came flooding back to me. I’d spent years pushing it aside. Now, much older and wiser, I knew the truth.
“Michael was a predator and he preyed on me when I was a vulnerable young girl.
“Thinking of my little brother near that creep horrified me. I broke down and told my mum everything.
“She was in shock, and devastated. She told me there was no way I was the only victim.
Michael was a predator and he preyed on me when I was a vulnerable young girl. Thinking of my little brother near that creep horrified me
Morgane
“For years I’d convinced myself it was just me, so her words hit me like a tonne of bricks.”
That month Morgane moved back to the UK, and her mum helped her come forward to the police where she bravely gave her statement.
There, the detective informed her that other women had come forward about Florek, and their statements were extremely similar.
All the others had been aged between 17 and 19, and were abused and harassed during lessons with Florek too.
Morgane says: “Feeling overwhelmed, I realised how huge this was going to be. The CPS began working hard to combine all of our cases together.
“It took two years to get to court. During that time, I was a mess.
“Sexual assault wasn’t as black and white as I’d always thought. It could be touching, inappropriate questions.
“I was young and vulnerable in that car, trapped with him. He’d abused his position of trust, preying on me.
“As the trial got closer, I had to dismiss myself from work due to my mental health. I dreaded seeing Michael again too and worried if the jury would believe me.”
Sick jokes
Phoebe booked her first lesson with Florek aged 18 in 2018
Phoebe said Florek made jokes about sleeping with underage girls
In October 2024, Morgane arrived at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court and saw the other victim-survivors.
One of them was Phoebe Horrocks, 25, a mental health worker.
Morgane says: “The women were all lovely, but we weren’t allowed to speak.
“As Michael came into the courtroom, we all looked at each other, filled with adrenaline. I was the first one to go up on the stand. I whispered, ‘We’ve got this.’
“As I gave evidence, I couldn’t face Michael. I had a screen up.
“He’d been teaching for nearly 40 years. We all believed there were hundreds more out there. Little did we all know, we’d locked ourselves in a car with a sexual predator.”
Like Morgane, Phoebe was also from Stroud and had heard rave reviews about Florek from local friends. She’d booked her first lesson with him aged 18 in 2018.
Phoebe says: “I went online and checked his website then booked my first lesson with him. But like Morgane, he also took me to a quiet estate, with no one around.
We all believed there were hundreds more out there. Little did we all know, we’d locked ourselves in a car with a sexual predator
Morgane Chapman
“As we got to the abandoned area, I felt scared. Back in the car, he asked me if I’d sh*gged a relative of his, and told me a story about a sexy girl in uniform.
“He made jokes about sleeping with underage girls and asked me if I had a boyfriend constantly.
“I went into a freeze mode. I was already anxious about driving.
“Then suddenly, halfway through the lesson, he placed his hand on my breast.
“He groped me as he reached for the steering wheel, or fifth gear. He also squeezed his hand on my thighs as we did the clutch.
“I had no idea if driving instructors could touch you or not. After that, I never managed to take lessons long enough to pass my test.
“Like Morgane I lived in silence for years, afraid I wouldn’t be believed.
“But in 2022, when I was 22, I reported him and after that I found other women on who were his victims too.”
Guilty verdict
Florek committed suicide just before his second trial
In October 2024, Michael Florek, 64, of Swallowcroft, Eastington near Stonehouse, was found guilty of sexually assaulting Phoebe, sexually assaulting Morgane, and sexually assaulting another three women across Gloucestershire between 2016 and 2021 at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court.
In November 2024, Michael was sentenced to 14 months, suspended for two years at Gloucester Crown Court.
The 64-year-old was also handed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order which prohibited him from working or acting as a driving instructor until October 2034.
During that time he was ordered to also provide police with the details of any vehicle he owned, used or had access to.
I had no idea if driving instructors could touch you or not. After that, I never managed to take lessons long enough to pass my test
Phoebe Horrocks
At the sentencing, both Morgane and Phoebe showed up and read their impact statements out, again from behind a screen.
Morgane says: “I told the court how I felt an immense guilt and shame of not being able to come forward and tell my family.
“As I heard Phoebe tell hers about how she couldn’t drive to visit her sick family, due to the trauma of her lessons, I couldn’t stop sobbing.
“After hearing his sentence, we both grasped onto each other hugging and asked each other, what next? Although we’d had justice, we were determined to do more.
“We both exchanged numbers, and Phoebe began contacting organisations and the government trying to make changes.”
How to report a sexual assault
- Contact a doctor or practice nurse at your GP surgery.
- Contact a voluntary organisation, such as Rape Crisis , Women’s Aid , Victim Support , The Survivors Trust or Male Survivors Partnership .
- Call the 24-hour freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge , on 0808 2000 247.
- Speak to the rape and sexual abuse support line run by Rape Crisis England and Wales – you can call the helpline on 0808 500 2222 or use the online chat (both are free and are open 24 hours a day, every day of the year).
Fight for change
Morgane ran the Manchester Half Marathon to raise awareness for sexual assault victims
Phoebe and Morgane are campaigning to bring driving instructors’ sexual abuse to light
Phoebe, originally from Stroud but now living in , and Morgane, began campaigning to bring driving instructors’ sexual abuse to light.
Phoebe says: “My anxiety is bad; I still can’t drive today. That lesson haunted me.
“Now Morgane and I are fighting for change so people can be protected and safer during their lessons.
My anxiety is bad; I still can’t drive today. That lesson haunted me
Phoebe Horrocks
“The laws need to change. Driving instructors aren’t under the ‘position of trust’ for sex offenders laws, unlike teachers and sports coaches.
“There was no safeguarding training for instructors, or national complaint procedures in place.”
The pair have become good friends and are continuing their work to raise awareness.
Shocking news
In April this year, the women received the news that Florek had committed suicide just before his second trial.
Morgane says: “Phoebe and I got a call that he’d killed himself.
“It had a huge impact on us and was very rough. It was a mixture of emotions for both of us and we took it really hard.
“Now we’re still doing everything we can. We’ve just ran a 10k together. And I just ran the Half Marathon alone too to raise awareness for sexual assault victims, and I’ll be doing it again in October too.
“If you don’t shout, you’re not heard. We want other victims of driving instructors to come forward too. Please don’t be afraid.”
If you’re in need of support then follow and message @drive_change on , or email Morgane and Phoebe at info@drivechange.org.uk
