A teacher allegedly groomed one of her pupils with a Trafford Centre shopping trip before having sex with him and then fell pregnant by another teenage pupil, a jury was told. Rebecca Joynes, 30, denies six counts of having sexual activity with a child. The allegations concern two teenage boys who she met through her job as a teacher at a Greater Manchester school.
Manchester Crown Court heard that she took a 15-year-old boy to the Trafford Centre and bought him a £345 Gucci belt from Selfridges, before she brought him back to her apartment in Salford where they allegedly had sex.
She was later suspended from her post and was later discovered to have fallen pregnant with a second boy, who she first met aged 15 when they allegedly kissed one another.
But prosecutors said that the relationship later turned sexual and that she became pregnant, and later went on to have the baby, despite Ms Joynes allegedly telling him it was ‘almost impossible’ for her to conceive due to a health issue. He learned she was pregnant ‘to his great shock’ after she gave him a baby grow, the court heard.
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Ms Joynes denies all the charges and is standing trial. Prosecutors said that the first alleged victim told his mother that he was staying over at a friend’s house, when the alleged sexual offences occurred at Ms Joynes’ flat in Salford. He later told a friend that he had stayed over at her home on a Friday night and had sex with her.
Prosecuting, Joe Allman said that at first his friend didn’t believe him, but he then sent his friend a picture of Ms Joynes. His pal’s mother took the ‘perfectly decent but perhaps misguided decision’ to ‘cover’ for the boy, after his mother had been in contact to thank her for letting her son stay over and went to pick him up the morning after, jurors heard.
By the following Monday the police had become aware of an ‘allegation’ that the boy had spent the night with a teacher. Police attended the school and a safeguarding officer allegedly noticed the boy take off a belt.
Officers later seized CCTV from the Trafford Centre which showed Ms Joynes and the boy together in Selfridges, with her buying the £345 belt from the Gucci concession. Prosecutors claimed this constituted ‘grooming’.
When police later spoke to the boy he told them that he’d spent the night at Ms Joynes’ home and that they’d had sex twice that night. The boy said that in school Ms Joynes had given him ‘10 or 11 digits’ of her phone number and had ‘challenged him to guess the 11th digit’, and that they began sending messages.
She allegedly suggested they should meet up and at first he thought she was ‘joking’, the court heard. On the day of the allegations she picked him up near his home, the jury heard.
The boy alleged they had sex in her flat and that he ‘found the situation weird’. “She said to him several times ‘no one better find out’, Mr Allman said.
Jurors heard that a ‘rumour began to circulate’ and the police attended school the following Monday. They were told that Ms Joynes had sent the boy a message with a ‘heart and three kisses’ on the Monday, before the police attended.
Jurors were told that Ms Joynes accepts attending the Trafford Centre with the boy and buying him the belt, and admits that he attended her home. But she denies that any sexual activity took place.
Mr Allman said that more than a year later, police became aware that Ms Joynes had allegedly been involved in a ‘fairly long term sexual relationship’ with another teenager, around the time she had appeared in court in connection with the allegations concerning the first boy.
“Remarkably and in all honesty quite brazenly, this was all happening while Ms Joynes was on bail to this court,” Mr Allman said. He said that part of her bail conditions was an order to not contact any child under the age of 18.
Jurors heard that Ms Joynes was initially suspended and then dismissed from her post following the first allegations. Prosecutors allege that she engaged in sexual activity by kissing the second boy when he was aged 15, and that it became sexual after he turned 16.
They allege this was illegal due to her alleged position of trust as a teacher, ‘albeit she was suspended at the time’. Prosecutors said their contact over Snapchat wasn’t initially of a sexual nature but that it later became ‘more flirtatious’.
Jurors heard that he started to ask if they could meet. He told his mother he was going to the Trafford Centre and claims he was picked up by her before they went back to her flat.
Mr Allman said they had sex, and that Ms Joynes told the boy it was ‘almost impossible’ for her to get pregnant because she had polycystic ovary syndrome. The boy claimed they went on to have sex at ‘numerous times in different places’. The boy said he ‘repeatedly’ told her they didn’t want to continue with the relationship but claimed she became ‘controlling’.
Jurors heard they didn’t see each other for a while after she moved in with her parents. He said that when they saw one another again that she had lost weight and dyed her hair, and ‘looked like a different person’.
He said that she eventually informed him she was pregnant with his child, and gave him a baby grow with ‘I love you daddy’ written on it. Ms Joynes had allegedly arranged a ‘date night’ and had ‘put rose petals down’ and had a ‘scratchcard’ from Victoria’s Secret containing different sexual positions. The boy later gave a statement to police.
Jurors were told that Ms Joynes says that the sexual activity with the second boy didn’t start until he was over the age of 16, and that it was after she had been dismissed from her job. Mr Allman said: “She claims that he was going to her flat, but wasn’t anything sexual at that point, in fact she was helping him with his homework.”
Mr Allman told the jury that the age of consent is 16, but that when it involves a child and teachers that it is raised to 18. He said: “A 15-year-old cannot consent to sexual activity with an adult, the law recognises that. 15-year-old school pupils don’t exploit adult men and women who are their teachers.”
Ms Joynes, of Pensby Road, Wirral, denies four counts of sexual activity with a child, and two counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.
Proceeding.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
