Runaway teacher ‘groomed vulnerable pupil’

Jeremy Forrest, 30, of Petts Wood, south east London, denies an offence of child abduction at Lewes Crown Court.

The trial has heard the pupil was aged 15 when she started a sexual relationship with Forrest after developing a crush on him at Bishop Bell CofE School in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

Fearing they were about to be exposed, Forrest, who walked out on his failing marriage, booked them on a ferry from Dover to Calais on September 20 and spent seven days on the run in France.

Yesterday the court was told he would not be giving evidence in his defence.

Judge Michael Lawson QC advised the jury they could make “any inferences as appear proper” in the decision.

Ronald Jaffa, defending, read a series of character references for the teacher, who was described by family members and former colleagues as a “talented and inspirational” teacher who “cared for others” and who has spent his time in prison teaching other inmates.

Summing up the prosecution case, Richard Barton said Forrest could be considered as a “paedophile” who had “groomed” the schoolgirl.

He told the jury: “You do not have to decide whether he was a paedophile; you may consider, in the context of what he did, that is not an inappropriate label for him.

“It is about his desires to have that young sexual flesh, to satisfy his own carnal lusts.”

Mr Barton continued: “It is interesting to note the woman he chose to marry is a very young-looking, petite woman with her own vulnerabilities.

“What is that Jeremy Forrest finds attractive about young-looking, vulnerable women?

“There is a word for it. It’s called grooming – being caring, being kind, being close, gaining confidence, gaining the trust of that person and then you can do what you want to do with them.”

He told the court it was not a case of Romeo and Juliet as they would have to have been “equal” partners and it had been Forrest who organised the elopement.

Mr Barton said his worst “betrayal” was of the schoolgirl.

“She trusted him with all her vulnerabilities and he was the figure of authority. Part of the role of a figure of authority is that you do not take advantage of it.”

Mr Jaffa, defending, told the jury Forrest had travelled to France with the girl because he feared she was suicidal. He said: “She was very desperate, she had suicidal thoughts and she was assertive. If he had not taken her, the alternative consequences were likely to be much worse. If he had taken her back to her mother or the police, no-one would be able to stop her, it may indeed have been the catalyst for worse consequences.”

Judge Lawson was today summing up the case before sending the jury out to consider its verdict.