Teacher says pupil was charming but she 'didn't need him'
Ellie Wilson says baby she aborted after school trip was her then boyfriend's
Geoffrey Bennett
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A teacher at the centre of an alleged sex scandal said there was no truth she used a pupil for "sexual and emotional gratification".
Ellie Wilson protested her innocence to a jury, saying she had simply offered a pupil pastoral care but did not have a sexual relationship with him.
Wilson, 29, is on trial accused of having sexual activity with a pupil and she denies four counts of abuse of position and sexual activity with a child.
The physics teacher, from Dursley, was head of Key Stage Four at a Bristol secondary school when the alleged offences took place in August 2015.
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The school's name and the name of the alleged victim cannot be revealed for legal reasons and to protect pupils involved in the case. Wilson no longer works at the school.
She told Bristol Crown Court: "He was charming, chatty and sociable," she said. "I imagine the girls would find him attractive. I didn't need him."
Wilson agreed safeguarding rules were policy that she had a duty to enforce.
Bristol teacher Eleanor Wilson leaves Bristol Crown Court
She said staff had looked up to her and she was held in high regard in a job which she enjoyed and wanted to progress in. Wilson described safeguarding as a "top priority".
But she told the jury the complainant needed more support as he was struggling with studies and truanting.
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She met his dad and step-mum to discuss the boy's needs, she said. Wilson said she had not asserted the lad needed extra support to justify her contact with him.
She admitted she told him to say nothing about their trips because they were against school policy and she was afraid of losing her job.
She said: "What we were doing was not morally wrong as I was trying to help him."
Ellie Wilson denies all charges of sexual misconduct
She admitted they had been texting innocently each other daily in August and September 2015. She said by October 2015 she told the lad not to say anything about their contact and told him to delete messages.
Wilson said she deleted her text messages with the alleged victim when a blackmailer emailed her, threatening to expose her having sex with a pupil.
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She admitted going to the boy's home, but denied they kissed and touched on his bed.
She told the jury it was ill-judged of her to go on trips to Tintern Abbey and Ashton Court with the lad, but nothing inappropriate happened.
Wilson said she had a boyfriend "on and off" for nine years and she had decided to join him in Bristol.
She said he had not left her and he was not aware she had had an abortion.
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She told the jury: "It only could have been his (child)."
Wilson said her boyfriend had been violent to her and threatened to harm her if she got pregnant. She admitted telling the lad she was pregnant, but not because the boy was the dad.
A technician at Wilson's school told the court he viewed Wilson as cheerful and confident and he had not witnesses anything about her demeanour that concerned him.
The case continues.