A MARRIED teacher fled to France with a 15-year-old pupil who had a crush on him the day after police questioned her about their sexual relationship, a court has heard.
Fearing they were about to be exposed, Jeremy Forrest, 30, booked them on a cross-Channel ferry to Calais before spending seven days on the run, it is alleged.
Jurors heard their relationship could not be compared to Romeo and Juliet but instead amounted to Mr Forrest committing a "gross and long-term breach of trust".
Lewes Crown Court heard keen musician Mr Forrest, who was born in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, taught maths at Bishop Bell Church of England School in Eastbourne, East Sussex, and that his marriage to wife Emily was strained.
In France, he and the girl dyed their hair to try to avoid detection, Mr Forrest set up a French email account and bought a French mobile phone. Meanwhile, bogus CVs were drafted in an internet cafe to help land them work.
Prosecutor Richard Barton said Mr Forrest used the alias Jack Dean and the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave herself a bogus name on the CVs.
However, an English bar owner to whom Mr Forrest had applied for work recognised the pair from media reports, leading eventually to them being caught in the south- western port city of Bordeaux on September 28 last year.
Opening the Crown's case, Mr Barton told the jury "This is not Romeo and Juliet; this is a 15-year-old girl with her own vulnerabilities and a 30-year-old teacher.
"When parents send their children to school, they quite properly expect those who teach their children will care for them properly.
"This case, the prosecution says, is about a gross and long-term breach of trust on the part of this defendant, not only of trust placed in him by the girl's mother and her family but also of other teachers and the governors of that school."
Mr Forrest, of Kent, denies child abduction.
The court heard Mr Forrest arranged to take the girl to his home for sex when his wife was away. He also booked them into local hotels for overnight stays.
Mr Barton said the girl was a willing participant in them fleeing the country but that cannot be used by Mr Forrest as a defence to the charge he faces.
In the run-up to the disappearance, Mr Barton said repeated attempts were made by other teachers to dissuade Mr Forrest from encouraging the girl's infatuation with him.
Mr Barton claimed the girl had become "infatuated" with her teacher.
He added: "It was sufficiently obvious that one member of staff spoke to Mr Forrest to warn him about it, saying 'You need to be careful', and he seemed to appreciate the concerns."
On a return flight from a school trip to Los Angeles, Mr Forrest was seen holding the girl's hand as she was said to be a nervous flyer. Rumours circulated he had written a song posted on his website about the girl.
Mr Barton added: "In July, there were further rumours at the school, concerning how Mr Forrest was posting Twitter messages ostensibly about his wife, but which were in fact about (the girl).
A "third party" tipped off police on September 14 – six days before the disappearance – about pictures Mr Forrest is said to have sent the girl, and about their relationship.
Four days later, on September 18, a joint meeting was held between police, education officials and the school, with police visiting the girl's mother the next day.
Knowing their relationship was about to be revealed due to the messages and pictures stored on her phone, the girl secretly packed some belongings and her passport, Mr Barton said.
On September 20, Mr Forrest told the school he was unwell. In texts to his wife, he said he had a class for his Masters degree in London and would be spending the weekend at a friend's home.
The girl, meanwhile, arranged to stay overnight at a friend's house but later confided she was to be collected by her teacher, it is claimed.
The court was told CCTV cameras caught Mr Forrest's car heading across Sussex into Kent, and that the girl called a friend from Mr Forrest's phone, saying: "Me and Jezz are going north."
He and the girl boarded the Spirit of France ferry from Dover to Calais at 9.20pm, the court was told.
Mr Barton said they arrived in Calais in the middle of the night before Mr Forrest drove to Paris. In a diary the girl kept during the journey, she told how they tried to dodge being caught on CCTV cameras, jurors heard.
When it emerged that the girl's friend with whom she was supposed to have stayed overnight was at school, police were called.
Return ferry tickets had been booked by Mr Forrest for 8.35pm on September 23 but, when they were not used, a European Arrest Warrant was obtained two days later for child abduction, the court was told.
The court was told that, on the same day as the European Arrest Warrant was issued, Mr Forrest gave his false CV to the owner of the HMS Victory bar in Bordeaux, Alison Cummins, who later recognised the accused from a news report.
The trial continues.
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