Chippenham teacher ‘abused position to have sex with pupil'

Bronwen James, 30, of Chippenham, Wiltshire, is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of four charges of sexual activity with the student at Bitterne Park School in Southampton, Hampshire.

Wiltshire Police has previously said James used to teach at Hardenhuish School in Chippenham as well as Bitterne Park School.

Edward Culver, prosecuting, said: “This case is about a teacher who exploited her position to engage in sexual activity with one of her students.

“She flirted with him, exchanged messages with him, took him to her home and she had sex with him.”

Mr Culver said that the relationship started after the student asked for James’s Snapchat address which she initially refused before accepting and they began sending “flirty” messages.

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The prosecutor said that James first met up with the student by picking him up in her car and then parking at Weston Shore, Southampton, where they “kissed”.

The pair then went to James’s home where they “kissed and cuddled” while watching Wimbledon on the television, before they went to her bedroom where they performed sex acts on each other and had sexual intercourse, Mr Culver said.

He said that they had sex three or four times at her home and added: “They messaged daily and she told (him) she cared about him and they even discussed moving in with each other, she told him she loved him and wanted to move away together.”

Mr Culver also said that the pupil went under the nickname “Number 8” in their messages because he was the eighth male she had slept with.

In a video interview with police, the student said that they “always used to flirt in lessons” before they met up in her car.

He said that the following day she came up to him in class and asked him in a “flirty” manner: “Where were you last night?”

The boy said that they progressed to having sex at her house and added: “At the time I was overwhelmed, it was great, but looking back at it, it was wrong.”

Describing the first occasion at her home, he said: “She was coming to me on the sofa, head in my lap, watching TV, her dog was there as well, just relaxing, then I leaned in for a kiss.

“We were kissing, then things progressed, I said ‘Shall we go upstairs?’, she said ‘yes’ and we had sex. She got naked and I got naked and that’s how it went.”

The boy added that in class, James, who he described as “quite attractive”, would slip him vapes in his coursework and also said that she liked him to call her “Miss” when they were alone together.

He said: “She is a bit weird but I rolled with it, it was a little bit dodge but I didn’t care.”

He also described how James had called him from her leaver’s party with other teachers in the background and told him she loved him.

He added: “I thought she cared about me.”

Mr Culver said that James denies having a sexual relationship with the boy and claimed that he had been “put up” by someone to make the allegations against her.

The trial continues.