A WEST Fife woman, whose brave stand against a sex offender working as a driving instructor has led to a change in the law, has spoken of her delight that the glaring loophole in the system has finally been closed.

Lesley-Anne Steele (now Watchman, pictured) was sexually assaulted in her own home by her driving instructor after he asked to be allowed in to use the toilet.

After a trial at Dunfermline Sheriff Court, the instructor, James Bennett, was sentenced to community service and put on the sex offenders register.

However, just two days later Lesley-Anne saw Bennett drive past her Dunfermline home, continuing to work as a driving instructor.

A loophole allowed sex offenders to continue to take unsuspecting learners into their cars for at least 45 days before they lost their licence.

Lesley-Anne took her case to MP Willie Rennie and after a three- year struggle through parliament his private member's bill received the royal assent on Thursday.

The young woman's ordeal began in June 2005 when she was 22 and had been learning to drive for a year with Bennett, who was in his early 50s.

"Looking back, I was probably making slow progress because he spent so much time talking about his sexual conquests," she told the Press.

"He thought he was a lady's man but wasn't and he was quite well known for talking like that.

"I just put up with it and never felt at risk before the assault happened.

"He had gone upstairs and came back down into the kitchen.

"We were talking about work we had been having done in the garden when he made his advance and I pushed him away.

"He then made another advance before I pushed him again and he went out.

"When something like that happens you're in shock and wonder if you're making too much of it all.

"Then when he came back to the door an hour or so later and was apologising profusely I knew I wasn't making too much of it." However, like many women in such situations, Lesley-Anne felt awkward about telling those close to her, concerned about their reaction and whether she would be blamed.

"I did worry about how my fiancé would react but I shouldn't have," she said.

"Everyone was totally behind me.

"I had put off saying anything at first then thought, 'What if I go back for another lesson and this time it happens out in the country away from everybody?'" She gave evidence at Bennett's trial in 2006 and saw him convicted but that was not to be the end of the matter because of the loophole allowing sex predators like Bennett to continue working even after their conviction.

He took full advantage of the situation and two days after the court case, Lesley-Anne saw him drive past her home in Glen Nevis Drive, Dunfermline, in his instructor's car to pick up a customer.

She said, "I was appalled that someone on the sex offenders register could continue to pick up young girls of 18 and 19 and not be breaking the law.

"It was frustrating because you wanted to go out and tell everybody exactly what he had done and what he was like." Lesley-Anne took her case to Mr Rennie and also made the brave decision to waive her right to anonymity for the sexual offence so that she could highlight this anomaly in the law.

She travelled to Westminster and met the then transport minister, Stephen Ladybank, and received an apology.

Lesley-Anne (26), a health centre receptionist, said, "I'm absolutely delighted that this loophole has been closed and this situation cannot happen again.

"I've moved on with my life and it hasn't had any lasting effect on me.

"I learned to drive with a female instructor and passed my test.

"In a strange way, I'm glad it happened to me because maybe someone else wouldn't have taken it all the way and he would still be out there getting away with it." Last year she and husband Scott tied the knot and they now live in Comrie.

In another remarkable lapse which has now been rectified, there was no procedure in place for the courts to inform the Driving Standards Agency that Bennett had been convicted of a sexual offence.

Mr Rennie said, "It has been a long struggle but I'm very satisfied that this loophole allowing sexual predators to continue working as driving instructors has finally been closed.

"I think if young women were aware of how potentially vulnerable they were to perverts like this many of them would not have been learning to drive.

"Now they can have the peace of mind to concentrate on their driving skills without worrying about their instructor."