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Jeremy Forrest found guilty of child abduction Jeremy Forrest found guilty of child abduction
(about 5 hours later)
A married maths teacher who escaped to France with a 15-year-old pupil after their relationship was discovered, prompting an international police hunt, has been convicted of child abduction. A teacher who sparked an international police hunt after he ran off to France with a pupil half his age when their sexual relationship was discovered is expected to be jailed after being convicted of child abduction.
Jeremy Forrest, 30, who began teaching the girl when she was 13 and began having sex with her shortly after her 15th birthday, was found guilty by a jury at Lewes crown court following a near-two week trial. Jeremy Forrest was found guilty after the jury took just two hours to deliver a unanimous verdict – while his former pupil, 16, sat behind him, burying her head in her hands and weeping when he was convicted.
The jury took just under two hours to reach its decision. As the foreman gave the unanimous verdict, the teenage girl put her head in her hands. The teacher, who turns 31 next week, had mouthed "I love you" to the girl as he was brought up to the dock for the verdict at Lewes crown court on Thursday afternoon. She cannot be named for legal reasons.
Forrest's mother and sister, sitting directly in front of her, sighed heavily and looked tearful. His father had collapsed outside the courtroom on Thursday morning and was not present for the verdict. Forrest ran off with the girl, then 15, in September last year, disappearing for just over a week. As Interpol and border forces were placed on alert, the girl's mother had feared she was dead, but the two were caught in Bordeaux after he had been recognised.
Forrest winced very slightly on hearing the jury's decision but gave no other reaction. As he was led down to the cells, he mouthed: "It's OK," to first his family and then the girl. Police and prosecutors argued that the teenager was a vulnerable child exploited by a narcissistic abuser. "Jeremy Forrest grossly abused the trust placed in him," said Detective Inspector Mark Ling from Sussex police, speaking outside at Lewes crown court. "His actions caused distress and anxiety among parents, family members and a school community."
After the verdict, the girl's mother thanked the police for their handling of the case and also the local council and family and friends for their support. In a statement read by police the mother of the girl spoke of the impact of the case: "The last nine months were like living out our worst nightmare. Every aspect of our life has been affected to some degree."
"To my family and friends, thank you. You have given me overwhelming strength, hope, courage and love," she said, in a statement read out on her behalf outside Lewes crown court. "The last nine months were like living out our worst nightmare. Every aspect of our life has been affected to some degree." Questions remain over whether more could have been done to head off the consequences of a relationship that had been simmering for seven months before the pair fled, and was, the court heard, the subject of widespread rumour around Bishop Bell school in Eastbourne, East Sussex.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had told the court that the decision to go to France in September last year happened not just with her consent but at her specific instigation, and that Forrest feared she might come to harm if she went alone. However, the prosecution noted that consent is immaterial in the case of a child, and portrayed Forrest as a manipulative predator who had taken advantage of a teenager with a number of personal problems. The Local Safeguarding Children Board in East Sussex has begun a serious case review into the actions of the school, local authority and police. It will inquire whether a wider pattern of poor pastoral care exists at a school that has faced three court cases connected to child sex inside four years.
"This is not Romeo and Juliet," Richard Barton QC, prosecuting, told the jury. "This is a 15-year-old girl with her own vulnerabilities, and a 30-year-old teacher. This was a gross and long-term breach of trust on the part of this defendant." In 2009 a supply teacher from Bishop Bell was jailed for having sex with two teenage pupils. More recently, the school was widely criticised after failing to remove a retired priest as chair of governors for more than a year after claims of child sex abuse against him emerged.
The focus will now shift to whether the girl's school, Bishop Bell, in Eastbourne, East Sussex, could have done more to prevent matters going as far as they did. The trial heard that Forrest was warned several times by colleagues about rumours of his closeness to the girl, but no further action was taken. In a statement the school said it was shocked by Forrest's actions and would learn any lessons that emerged.
In the end it was a tipoff from outside the school, believed to be from ex-pupils, that the girl's phone contained intimate photos of Forrest, that prompted police and child protection officers to visit her home on 19 September last year. The pair fled the next day, driving to Paris via Calais before taking a train to Bordeaux. They disappeared for just over a week, leading to a major international police operation to find them. Such lessons could extend to Sussex police. The court heard how the pair fled the day after officers and child protection officials seized the teenager's phone following a tip-off it contained intimate photos of Forrest. None were found, meaning the teacher was not arrested before he escaped. However, they did exist – one had the teacher naked but for a pair of boxer shorts – and were shown to the jury.
The Local Safeguarding Children Board in East Sussex has begun a serious case review into what happened, an investigation necessarily limited ahead of the trial. Forrest opted not to give evidence, instead relying on the girl's testimony that the journey happened not just with her consent but at her specific instigation, and Forrest feared she might come to harm if she went alone.
It is likely to look into not just any specific failings in the case of Forrest but also whether there is any discernible pattern at the school. In 2009 a supply teacher from Bishop Bell was jailed for having sex with two teenage pupils. More recently, the school was criticised after a retired priest was allowed to remain as a governor for more than a year after claims of child sex abuse against him emerged. It was a notion dismissed by the prosecution. "This is not Romeo and Juliet," said Richard Barton QC. "This is a 15-year-old girl with her own vulnerabilities, and a 30-year-old teacher."
The court heard that Forrest's relationship with the girl began as a normal teacher-pupil interaction, with her calling him "Sir" and being told off for wearing nail varnish. She developed a crush on him, and an apparent turning point came during a school trip to Los Angeles in February 2012, when Forrest publicly comforted the girl, who was experiencing personal difficulties.The court heard that Forrest's relationship with the girl began as a normal teacher-pupil interaction, with her calling him "Sir" and being told off for wearing nail varnish. She developed a crush on him, and an apparent turning point came during a school trip to Los Angeles in February 2012, when Forrest publicly comforted the girl, who was experiencing personal difficulties.
During that spring they started exchanging Twitter messages, moving to phone texting for greater privacy as the content became ever more intimate.During that spring they started exchanging Twitter messages, moving to phone texting for greater privacy as the content became ever more intimate.
During the school summer break, the court was told, with Forrest by then having been married for less than a year, they started having sex, meeting in local hotels, in the grounds of the local crematorium, or going for drives in his Ford Fiesta.During the school summer break, the court was told, with Forrest by then having been married for less than a year, they started having sex, meeting in local hotels, in the grounds of the local crematorium, or going for drives in his Ford Fiesta.
Jokey talk of running away together became suddenly serious when police seized the girl's mobile. Panicked, they went to France and tried to begin a new life in Bordeaux. Forrest devised a false CV and started looking for bar work. In England, meanwhile, the girl's mother believed her daughter was probably dead, she told the court. Jokey talk of running away together became suddenly serious when police seized the girl's mobile. Panicked, they went to Paris and then Bordeaux. Forrest devised a false CV and started looking for bar work.
They were eventually caught after the owner of an English bar in Bordeaux where Forrest asked about work recognised them from media coverage. French police arrested the teacher in the street. They were caught after the owner of an English bar where Forrest asked about work recognised them from media coverage.
The essential facts of the case were so well-established that Forrest's decision to deny child abduction appeared baffling to many onlookers. His strategy only emerged when the girl, still clearly supportive of her former teacher, opted to give evidence in person, rather than via video link. The facts of the case were so well-established that Forrest's only viable defence emerged as that of necessity – being forced to act by extreme circumstances. Giving evidence in person, the girl said Forrest only accompanied her to France because he feared she might otherwise harm or even kill herself
Forrest, she told the court, had not wanted to go to France at all, but only did so at her insistence because he feared she might harm or even kill herself if he did not. It was an argument dismissed, very quickly, by the jury.
"He was telling me not to do anything still, to not put myself in danger or harm myself. I was concerned that if I went on my own I would be in danger and so it would be a better idea if he went with me." Child abduction can carry a jail term of up to seven years, although Forrest is likely to receive a lesser sentence.
It was an argument rejected by the jury.
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