Teacher watched Spider-Man with pupil and told him she was feeling depressed before having sex with him, court told
13 May 2024, 20:06 | Updated: 14 May 2024, 09:07
A maths teacher accused of having a child with a schoolboy watched Spider-Man with the pupil before she felt depressed and had sex with him, a court has heard.
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Rebecca Joynes, 30, is on trial accused of six counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, including two while being a person in a position of trust. She denies all charges.
The allegations relate to her relationship with two 15-year-old students - identified as Boy A and Boy B - whilst a teacher at a Greater Manchester School, including one whom she fell pregnant with while awaiting trial on bail.
Jonyes told the court today that she was "obviously lonely" and "liked the attention" the schoolboy whom she became pregnant by was giving her, she told the court.
The teacher has denied any sexual activity took place with Boy A and maintains she only had sex with Boy B after he turned 16 and when she was no longer working at a school and a person in a position of trust.
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Joynes told the court that she 'opened up' to Boy B after helping him with a maths question - despite her being ordered to have no unsupervised contact with under 18s while on bail following her arrest for alleged relations with Boy A.
She said he sent messages to her including "Get your t***s out" and "Show us your bunda", telling the court that she considered them "flirtatious" and "a joke".
"I genuinely believed he cared about how I was feeling," she told the court.
Joynes said she told Boy B that she was feeling depressed before they watched his favourite film: Spider-Man.
The former teacher began giving evidence today, where she was questioned: "When an adult has an inappropriate relationship with a child, of 13, 14, 15, that's the adult's responsibility, nothing to do with the child being provocative, or making the first move, or trying to get the adult's number, is it?"
"No," Joynes replied.
She was then asked by prosecutors: "Did you have a powerful sexual attraction to boys aged 15?"
"Not at all," Joynes said.
The prosecution, Joe Allman said Boy A stayed at the teacher's flat where his semen was found on her bed sheets. He told the court that Boy B went back to her flat and she became pregnant by the student.
"Do you see the position differently because you are a woman and not a man?," the prosecutor asked.
"No," replied Joynes.
Mr Allman then reminded jurors Boy A had lied to his mother to see Joynes who picked him up in her car and took him to the Trafford Centre where she bought him a £350 Gucci belt before going back to her flat in Salford Quays.
"And you say you were not contemplating sex?" Mr Allman said.
Jonynes again replied: "No."
"Does lying come quickly to you?" he asked.
"No. Definitely not," Joynes said.
Joynes also answered questions from her own barrister Michael O'Brien where she admitted to messaging Boy A over Snapchat and agreeing that he could stay at her flat. She claimed he slept on her sofa, thought, and denied they had sex.
She told the court that she was planning to order some food but Boy A said he was not hungry, claiming he told her: "I think you know what I want to do?"
Joynes continued: "I laughed awkwardly and went to join him on the couch. He asked me how many people I had slept with. I said, probably not as many as you have.
"I thought he wanted something to happen. There was no way that was going to happen. I explained I had been in a nine-year relationship and really struggled with the break-up and I'm not that kind of person.
"I told him nothing sexual was going to happen."
Her defence then asked if there was anything she would change about how she behaved.
She said: "Everything. As a teacher I should never have engaged in any form of contact with a student. I let my guard down. I caved in to the attention he was giving me. I struggled massively over the Covid period. I think I was obviously lonely and I liked the attention at the time, which sounds awful."
Joynes was arrested in October 2021 after a police investigation into her contact with Boy A. She is then accused of being in a sexual relationship with Boy B while on bail.
She did, however, admit to being in contact with Boy B on Snapchat despite being ordered not to have contact with anyone under 18.
The teacher said she was "curious" about Boy B contacting her on Snapchat and they "opened up" to each other as friends.
"I genuinely believed that he cared," she said - denying any sexual contact before Boy B had left school and only had sex with him after she had been dismissed from her job and no longer a teacher.
The trial continues.
