Accused teacher says student ‘imagined’ sexual encounter

Eleanor Wilson, 29, is on trial accused of having sexual intercourse with the teenager on a British Airways flight home from an overseas camping trip in August 2015.

It is alleged the science teacher, then aged 26, kissed and cuddled the boy before “beckoning” him into the toilet where they had sex.

She is also accused of seeing the boy away from school where they allegedly kissed and cuddled on three separate occasions.

The jury at Bristol Crown Court heard details of what Wilson told detectives when she was quizzed over what the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, allegedly said.

Officers asked her to explain the detailed account the boy had given officers in his video interview about the incident on the plane and the time they spent together alone after returning to the UK.

“The amount of detail has come from his imagination and I don’t know why he was saying that,” Wilson said.

“They are very good at imagining stuff and thinking of… it seems like some weird porn film.”

She added: “I think it is something that is scripted. It is not a memory.”

Referring to the alleged incident in the toilet cubicle, she said: “I was on my period and that’s the last thing I was thinking of.

“You had kids that were sick and I didn’t want the parents thinking that we were not looking after them.

“I would not jeopardise my career or risk going to prison. I would not have broken the law or gone beyond the friendship.”

Wilson said she formed a friendship with the boy because she had no other friends, and apart from her then boyfriend Andrew Hall, there was no one else she could talk to.

During the seven months after the school trip there were 339 contacts on the boy’s mobile phone, which consisted of 295 text messages, 23 calls, 13 calls that went straight to answer phone and eight multimedia messages.

Wilson said they went to Tintern Abbey during the summer holidays because she wanted a day out.

“He was really the only person I had that was a friend. He was the only person I would talk to apart from Andy,” Wilson told police.

“I was lonely and I wanted to spend a day out with someone. He was my only friend.”

Wilson denied holding hands or kissing the teenager in his bedroom after dropping him home from a meal at Nando’s or during the days out at Tintern Abbey and Ashton Court.

“I don’t hold hands with my boyfriend, it’s just not me,” the 6ft 2in tall teacher told officers.

“I didn’t hold hands – I am massive compared to him. I don’t think he can even reach.

“I am not a very physical person. Me and my boyfriend had a good relationship but it was not my style to hold hands and kiss in public. Andy would say that I am really a prude – it’s just not what I do.”

Wilson told police she confided in the boy that she was pregnant during a conversation in her office at the school, and would be having an abortion.

“I didn’t want to tell Andy about it and (the boy) was the only person I spoke to,” she said.

“He seemed to just care. He was kind of worried and asked whether I wanted him to come with me and I said no because I knew that wouldn’t be right.

“I saw (the boy) as a mate rather than a pupil. It had become casual and totally blurred because I didn’t teach him any more.

“I am quite naive and I do believe the best in people. I thought (the boy) was a caring person who needed help and a bit of guidance and needed a friend.

“I have a really good relationship with Andy and I don’t want to lose that.”

Wilson, of The Rope Walk, Dursley, Gloucestershire, denies four charges of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.

The trial continues.