- .Maths teacher Jeremy Forrest faces jail following today's guilty verdict
- .He mouthed 'I love you' to his victim and she said 'I'm sorry' back
- .The married 30-year-old will be sentenced at Lewes Crown Court at 3pm
- .He had four-month fling with Sussex schoolgirl before they fled to France
- .They first kissed in a classroom and later had sex up to 8 times a night
- .After running to Bordeaux they were caught when Forrest looked for work
- .He used the alias Jack Francis Dean and claimed he was a journalist
- .Police arrested him as he walked hand-in-hand with girl in French city
- .School and police had number of chances to stop affair before they fled
Guilty: Jeremy Forrest is led into court in handcuffs today before the jury found him guilty of abducting a schoolgirl
Jeremy Forrest mouthed 'I love you' to his 15-year-old former lover today as he was found guilty of abducting the schoolgirl and taking her on the run for eight days in France.
The girl, who put her head in her hands and sobbed after the verdict, then told the maths teacher 'I'm sorry' as he was taken from the dock.
It came as the jury at Lewes Crown Court took less than two hours to find him guilty of one charge of child abduction, and the disgraced 30-year-old now faces jail.
They refused to accept his defence that the teenager was 'desperate and suicidal' and he went with her to the continent to prevent her coming to harm.
He was labelled a 'paedophile' by the prosecution, who said he 'groomed' the vulnerable teenager and his actions were a gross breach of trust.
Their fling came after the teenager had developed a crush on him at Bishop Bell C of E School in Eastbourne, East Sussex, where he taught maths.
Married Forrest then persistently seduced the child in her school uniform, first kissing her in a classroom and within weeks had told her: 'I love you', his victim said.
The keen singer, who performed under the name Jeremy Ayre, also wrote songs about their relationship and even wrote a blogpost about his 'moral dilemma' - a likely reference to their relationship - under the title 'you hit me just like heroin' in May last year.
Over the next four months they had sex in his car, home and at hotels, sometimes up to eight times a night, and often without contraception, before the 30-year-old took the teenager to France in September last year.
Forrest had abducted the girl when he feared the school and the police were on to them.
Betrayal: Married maths teacher Forrest, 30, wrote songs about the girl under his performing name Jeremy Ayre and also wrote of a 'moral dilemma' on his blog while they had an affair
On the run: Fearing they had been rumbled Forrest drove the girl in his black Ford Fiesta to Dover to cross the Channel
They fled Britain on a cross-Channel ferry from Dover, sparking a Europe-wide search involving Interpol that ended eight days later.
Famous: This picture from the ferry's CCTV showed the maths teacher cuddling the girl, seemingly without a care in the world
Their disappearance sparked several television appeals by their parents as well as a reconstruction on Crimewatch.
After dumping his car in Paris, they travelled by train to Bordeaux, south-west France, and checked into a small hotel. They also dyed their hair to avoid being recognised.
In an attempt to find work, Forrest had written a bogus CV and said he was called Jack Francis Dean.
It made no mention of his teaching experience, stating instead that he was a journalism graduate who had worked for music magazine NME. The girl also changed her name and also fabricated a CV to try to get work.
But when Forrest appeared at an English bar in the city, the owner instantly recognised him from online news reports, and contacted Sussex police.
They were captured by French police as they walked hand-in-hand through Bordeaux, and had spent eight days on the run.
They had been staying in a room in the city, with a room containing little more than a single bed and a TV.
After she was rescued and he was sent back to Britain, his crime sparked this abduction trial.
The couple had not seen each other since they were found, but smiled at each other across the courtroom as the teenager, now 16, took to the witness box this week to explain what happened.
Forrest had refused to give evidence.
She told the jury that before the pair fled she had felt suicidal, fearing their relationship was about to be exposed.
A day earlier police had confiscated her phone after being tipped off as rumours of the relationship swirled around Bishop Bell C of E School.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said Forrest tried to ‘persuade me not to run away’ and only came with her because she was ‘insistent’ and he feared for her safety.
She said that as Forrest drove her to Dover to board a cross-channel ferry to Calais he seemed ‘very worried and very emotional’.
She said: ‘I don’t think he wanted to take me anywhere. I was insistent.
‘I was very determined and once I had an idea in my head nobody was going to stop me, not Jeremy, not anybody. I was adamant we had to go otherwise I feared what would happen.’
Desperate: Jim Forrest and Julie Forrest appeal for their son Jeremy Forrest to return home at the time of his disappearance
Lies: Forrest's deception after fleeing Britain included producing a CV with a false name - Jack Francis Dean - used to try and get work in Bordeaux
Discovered: The room in the Hotel Huguerie, Bordeaux, France where Jeremy Forrest and the girl stayed during their time in the city
Forrest was aware she had suffered from an eating disorder, self-harming and was having problems at home, the court heard.
The teenager said: ‘He was concerned that if I went on my own I would be in danger so he said it would be a better idea if he came with me.
'I was very pleased. If Jeremy said he was not coming with me I dread to think what situation I would be in then.
‘He said to me, “this isn’t going to end very well but if you are insisting things could happen to you as a result we have to go”.’
Under cross examination by defence counsel Ronald Jaffa, the girl admitted she had felt suicidal at the time.
She said: ‘It was one of those times I was feeling very low indeed and I was very desperate. And when I’m desperate those are the kind of things I do.’
The teenager said that after they fled, Forrest repeatedly asked her to return home but she refused.
She added: ‘He was saying "I can’t go back". He was now stuck in the position.’
Unassuming: This hotel was where the couple stayed under assumed names, but were found when a bar owner recognised Forrest
Proceedings: Jeremy Forrest is led towards court by police for his court appearance in Bordeaux, France, having been arrested hand-in-hand with the girl he abducted
Taken home: After successful extradition, Jeremy Forrest was escorted into a plane to Britain on October 10, 2012
The girl told the court she had ‘instigated’ the relationship with Forrest, which began following a school trip to Los Angeles the previous February.
In a blogpost last year, hinting at his deceit, he wrote about a 'moral dilemma' in a post headed: 'You hit me just like heroin...'
Forrest had researched how long he could face behind bars for having a sexual relationship with a child. But according to the girl, it was a 'risk he was willing to take'.
The girl said that as a couple they 'made each other happy' and 'nothing else mattered''. And so their relationship continued into the summer holidays.
He took her for sex in a spare room in the marital home in Ringmer, in his car and in hotels, including a Premier Inn in Polegate and the White Hart across the road from the crown court where he stood trial.
During these overnight stays, the girl would tell her mother she was at a friend's. The girl said they referred to each other as 'boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend'.
Teacher in the dock: Jeremy Forrest's 15-year-old pupil, giving evidence by videolink, has described how their relationship had developed from a kiss in the classroom to sex at the cottage he shared with his wife
Educational establishment:Staff at Bishop Bell Church of England School (pictured) in Eastbourne warned Forrest off seven months before he went on the run
His trial also laid bare Forrest's betrayal of his wife Emily, 32, who he had said he had loved, even in a text message as he boarded a cross-Channel ferry to France.
Mrs Forrest broke down in the witness box as she told the court about their last meal together at home, and how 'he tucked me in' and 'told me that he loved me'.
She had gestured at her estranged husband sitting a few yards away in the dock, saying ‘It’s really distracting’, before breaking down and being escorted from the witness box.
Judge Michael Lawson QC called for a break in the trial as the 32-year-old stood with her back to the court weeping.
It was the first time Mrs Forrest had seen her husband since he allegedly absconded to France with his 15-year-old pupil last September and spent eight days on the run.
When Mrs Forrest returned to the court half an hour later she continued to give evidence behind a red curtain hidden from her husband’s gaze.
She told the court she and her husband of a year had returned to the marital home in Ringmer, East Sussex, after dining in Lewes town centre on September 19. ‘I went to bed and Jeremy kind of tucked me in. He told me that he loved me.’ she said.
‘When I left in the morning I was in quite a good mood because Jeremy told me he loved me so I was like pestering him in bed, just being silly, just singing.’
In court: Emily Forrest, pictured, fled Lewes Crown Court in tears this week after giving evidence at the trial of her husband Jeremy who absconded to France with his 15-year-old pupil
Married: Jeremy and Emily Forrest together before he allegedly ran off to France with a pupil
Upset: Emily Forrest, the wife of Jeremy Forrest, hid as she left Lewes Crown Court in East Sussex
She said her mood turned to anger when 30-year-old Forrest texted her to say he would not be home that evening and would miss a meal with her family.
They later tried to telephone each other and, after missing each other’s calls, Forrest sent a text saying: ‘Don’t worry I’ll call you tomorrow. I love you.’
The text is believed to have been sent minutes after Forrest boarded a Channel ferry with the schoolgirl.
Before they fled, Forrest had done all he could to protect his career and blame the girl for any impression they were having an affair.
The child’s mother told the court said she feared the worst after her daughter vanished last September. Trembling and clasping her hands as she gave evidence, she said: ‘I thought she was dead. And I did ask the police that as well.’
The girl’s mother also told how Forrest phoned her in July, a few weeks before he allegedly abducted her, to quash rumours that were involved in some way.
She said: ‘I had never spoken to him before. He said that there had been rumours at school that him and the girl had been having a relationship and he was seriously concerned for his career.
‘He said he wanted to nip it all in the bud before the school started again in September.'
Artist drawing of runaway schoolteacher Jeremy Forrest as he sat in Lewes Crown Court, charged with abduction of a 15-year-old schoolgirl. His wife Emily is shown giving evidence from behind a curtain
During the trial it emerged police and teachers at the school where Jeremy Forrest taught missed a number of opportunities to stop his relationship with a 15-year-old pupil before he abducted her and fled to France.
Incredibly, colleagues warned the maths teacher seven times that his conduct was inappropriate, but none of them reported their concerns to police.
Fellow pupils even told staff that they were worried about Forrest, 30, and the 'infatuated' schoolgirl, Lewes Crown Court heard during the trial.
Sussex Police were only alerted to the relationship when someone outside the school raised concerns.
They began investigating on September 14 last year following the tip-off and seized the girl’s phone for analysis five days later after being told the teacher had sent her intimate photographs of himself.
But they did not find any evidence and told senior school staff that they would not be examining Forrest's phone.
Hours after police decided not to continue with their enquiries, the pair absconded to Bordeaux.
He was due to be suspended from the school the day the alarm was raised over the pair's disappearance.
East Sussex County Council confirmed it was ‘addressing and investigating concerns’ about Forrest at the time.
Police searches then revealed they had in fact exchanged topless pictures of each other.
Officers then bungled the release of information about the missing pair, including announcing that they left Britain in a Ford Focus, which was later corrected to say they were in a black Ford Fiesta.
Trial: As Jeremy Forrest's trial came towards its end today, his father Jim (right, today) has collapsed at court
Case: Jim Forrest looked well when he arrived at Lewes Crown Court (pictured) today, but collapsed shortly afterwards
TIMELINE: HOW THE CHASE FOR JEREMY FORREST AND THE GIRL UNFOLDED
February 2012: During a half-term school trip to Los Angeles, rumours surface after the girl and Forrest are spotted holding hands on a flight.
Spring 2012: Tweets, including private messages, are exchanged between the pair, and they became more flirtatious. Forrest and the girl are spoken to by the school but both deny anything inappropriate.
September 19, 2012: Police and a social worker visit the girl's home amid continuing rumours of a relationship and pictures being exchanged between them. She denies everything.
September 20, 2012: The girl asks her mother if she can stay overnight at a friend's house. Fearing their relationship was about to be exposed, Forrest books them on a cross-Channel ferry.
They arrive in Calais in the middle of the night and later head to Paris before moving on to Bordeaux.
September 21: The girl is reported to police as missing after failing to arrive at school. Forrest's wife, Emily, is contacted by police as he's absent from school, too.
September 22: The girl's family appeals for her to get in touch, saying: "We are worried and miss her terribly."
September 23: Sources say that the man is teacher Jeremy Forrest, 30, who teaches at Bishop Bell C of E School in Eastbourne, East Sussex.
Chief Inspector Jason Tingley describes police as being at a "critical stage of the investigation" as the girl's family and friends make appeals on social networking websites. Officers urge Forrest or the girl to get in touch.
The two are possibly expected home with return ferry tickets but they are not used.
September 24: Details emerge of a blog apparently written by Forrest four months earlier under his music stage name, Jeremy Ayre, writing about a "moral dilemma" in a posting headed: "You hit me just like heroin..."
Terry Boatwright, executive headteacher at Forrest's school, says: "The whole school community is deeply concerned ... and shocked by what has happened."
The girl's mother appeals to her directly, saying: "Sweetheart, I don't care what you've done or why, I just want you home.'' And Chief Inspector Jason Tingley told Forrest to: "Do the right thing and make contact with us." The press conference is translated into French to aid the European search.
Interpol, the UK Border Agency, the British Embassy in France and the French authorities are all working to help trace the youngster.
September 25: A European Arrest Warrant is issued for Forrest for child abduction.
September 26: The Europe-wide search has no new sightings of the pair.
September 27: Forrest's tearful parents, Jim and Julie Forrest, appeal directly to their son to get in touch, saying: "We are all here for you both. Please, please get in contact."
BBC's Crimewatch programme features an appeal.
September 28: Possible sightings of the teacher and the girl in Paris.
Sussex Police confirm they have had seven reported sightings after the Crimewatch programme.
12.15pm: Sussex Police confirm the girl has been found, and Forrest arrested at the same time. Both are "safe and well".
October 10: Forrest is extradited to the UK and charged with child abduction by Sussex Police later the same evening.
January 25, 2013: Appearing at Lewes Crown Court via videolink from HMP Lewes, Forrest pleads not guilty to child abduction.
June 10: Forrest stands trial at Lewes Crown Court.
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