Jeremy Forrest was a 'coward' who failed to halt affair His own, brief marriage was already collapsing and Forrest was too weak to ignore the teenager's infatuation and attention she lavished on him. He spent increasing amounts of time with her outside school, taking her to local hotels and even sleeping with her in his marital home in East Sussex. Forrest knew he was playing with fire and as he realised they were about to get caught he researched the maximum sentence he could receive for sex offences. But despite the inevitable conclusion, he failed to call a halt to the relationship and abducted the girl when the net closed in. Forrest was described in court as a coward whose actions were fuelled by his "desires to satisfy his own carnal lusts." But friends and relatives described him as a "good natured and extremely mild-mannered" man who had been suffering from depression caused by the breakdown of his marriage. Forrest opted not to give evidence in his own defence, leaving the jury to determine his motives for the abduction. As he was led down to the cells, the girl, who is now 16, sobbed at the back of the court and told him "I'm sorry."