Teacher is accused of abduction

Runaway teacher Jeremy Forrest has been charged with child abduction and will appear in court today in connection with his disappearance with a 15-year-old Megan Stammers last month.

The 30-year-old married amateur musician, from Ringmer, near Lewes, East Sussex, went on the run with Megan, a pupil at Bishop Bell C of E School in Eastbourne, on September 20.

The maths teacher was extradited to the UK yesterday from France, where the pair were found, eight days after their disappearance, and will appear at Eastbourne Magistrates’ Court this morning.

Sussex Police announced they had charged him last night.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The pair travelled to France on Thursday, September 20, sailing on a ferry from Dover to Calais. It sparked a Europe-wide search and prompted public appeals from both sets of families for their return.

They were eventually found in Bordeaux, eight days after disappearing, where they were recognised by a member of the public from television coverage.

In France, Forrest was held on suspicion of child abduction following the issuing of a European Arrest Warrant and detained at Gradignan prison on the outskirts of Bordeaux.

He arrived back in the UK yesterday afternoon, disembarking a flight at Gatwick Aiport with a towel covering his head before being taken away in a police van.

Megan has since been reunited with her family.