THE FAMILIES of missing pupil Megan Stammers and her Scots teacher, Jeremy Forrest, spoke of their relief after the pair were found "safe and well" in the south of France.
They spoke as 30-year-old maths teacher Forrest was arrested on suspicion of child abduction after the pair were spotted strolling hand-in-hand in Bordeaux a week after 15-year-old Megan was reported missing when she failed to turn up for school.
According to a police source, the Inverurie-born teacher and pupil were on their way to a job interview.
Megan's delighted stepfather, Martin Stammers, spoke of "pure elation, pure relief that she is just safe and well" and said his family were looking forward to being reunited with the teenager.
He said: "We can't wait to be reunited with her. Our family is overjoyed.
"As you can imagine this has been an emotional roller-coaster. Now we have smiles back on our faces."
He then asked that the family be given some time alone to bond again after their ordeal.
A statement from Forrest's Scottish father, Jim Forrest, and mother Julie said: "We are pleased that Megan and Jeremy have been found safe and well.
"This has been an ordeal for all the families concerned, we would like to thank Sussex police and the media for their assistance."
The alarm was raised when Megan, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, failed to return to school a week ago and it was discovered that she had travelled with Forrest on a ferry from Dover to Calais the previous evening.
They had tickets to return to the UK on Sunday, but they were not used.
Jason Tingley, Chief Inspector of Sussex Police, said that Megan was now in the care of child protection officers after the pair were found at 12.15pm yesterday.
Forrest is expected to be detained for a number of days while extradition proceedings to bring him back to the UK get under way.
Terry Boatwright, headteacher of Bishop Bell Church of England School in Eastbourne, where Megan was a pupil and where Forrest taught maths, said everyone in the school community was delighted that Megan had been found and could now be reunited with her family.
He added: "Clearly, much needs to be done now to support Megan, and her family, as they seek to return to some sort of normality and we will do all we can to play our part in that."
A French police source said the pair were discovered on the public highway in the centre of Bordeaux. The prosecutor's office said the couple had been found thanks to "an interesting and credible witness" who contacted them 48 hours before they were picked up.
It also emerged that Forrest, 30, had tried to get himself a job in a local bar on Thursday.
The police source added: "He tried to get a job in a bar in the city centre but he was seemingly unsuccessful."
Megan's natural father, Barry Wratten, 41, said her discovery was "the news he had been hoping and praying for".
He added: "The past week has been absolutely terrible. You don't want to say it, but sometimes you think the worst. So this is wonderful news. It's brilliant. I can't say how relieved I am.
"I just want her back in the UK now with her family. My message to Megan would be that I love her very much, and that I am so glad she is safe.
"I'd also like to say that I am not angry with her at all. We all do silly things when we are young without thinking about the consequences."
A Sussex Police spokesman said the huge media appeal had helped in tracing the pair.
The spokesman said: "The information which led to them being located came as a direct result of media coverage in France."
It was claimed that concerns had been raised about the teenager's relationship with her teacher as early as February, when her friend told another teacher that they had been seen holding hands.
East Sussex Council is investigating the matter.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article