Rebecca Joynes victim, 'I realise I sacrificed 18 months to be with a paedophile'

It's a court case that has gripped the nation, a teacher accused of abusing her position of trust by having sex with two pupils.

Rebecca Joynes stood trial at Manchester Crown Court on charges of engaging in sexual acts with two teenage boys from a school in Greater Manchester. On the afternoon of Friday, May 17, Joynes, 30, was found guilty on six counts of sexual activity with a child after nine-and-a-half hours of jury deliberation.

The charges included two instances of sexual activity with a minor while holding a position of trust. Joynes has been the focus of media attention throughout the trial. But at the heart of this case are two innocent young lads.

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Both were infatuated by their attractive teacher and were essentially seduced into believing she was 'nice' and 'fit'. They would often make playful remarks about her 'big bum', reports the Manchester Evening News.

The first, anonymised as 'Boy A' due to reporting rules preventing his identification, was only 15 when he caught Joynes' attention. During a lesson he asked Joynes for her phone number.

She complied by sharing nine out of eleven digits. The boy managed to figure out the last two numbers and called her up right there in the classroom which she laughed off. Later that evening, he sent her a text asking: "Are you going to ignore me then... I see how it is."

To his surprise, she responded the following morning and soon found herself added on his Snapchat - a popular platform where messages vanish after a day.

The court heard how Boy A, emboldened by the attention of his teacher, bragged to his friends about her. The teacher then began sending flirtatious messages to the student.

The boy texted: "I don't like [subject], get too distracted now."

Joynes responded: "It better had be from the work,".

Boy A replied: "Of course Miss, what else would it be."

Joynes messaged back: "Good [emoji]"

The lad had previously joked with mates that he was going to 's**g' his teacher. Following this, Joynes arranged a trip to the Trafford Centre for shopping after he noticed she had posted about it on Snapchat.

He asked: "When are you taking me? Am I coming later or no?

She replied: "You better had come now you told me you are."

When Joynes humorously suggested another pupil might join them, he insisted: "I had better be the only one."

"Obviously it's only you," Joynes assured him which saw Boy A boast: "As it should be. Best student if you ask me." Joynes playfully retorted: "That's debatable."

She even suggested he could stay overnight at her flat in Salford. To cover his tracks, he lied to his mum, claiming he was staying at a friend's house. After school, he hurried home, changed, and packed a bag.

His mum told the court: "I asked him to message me when he got to his friend's house." The boy falsely reassured her he was at the friend's house while, Joynes was discreetly waiting nearby in her Audi A1.

She then drove them to a dog day care centre to pick up her pet before heading to her parents' place in Wirral, where she had arranged for the dog to stay overnight.

Joynes had parked further down the road and instructed Boy A to recline in his seat so he wouldn't be seen. He later admitted to officers he was unaware of what would unfold, remarking: "But anyone in my position, when you are my age, my year. If you ever see her she is good looking."

On their journey to the Trafford Centre, Joynes made a quip about driving, prompting him to respond: "I wouldn't know because I'm not old enough."

Joynes chuckled at his comment, playfully telling him: "Oh shut up". They strolled through the shopping centre before entering Selfridges, where he questioned the purpose of their visit: "Why are we actually here because I'm not going to get anything? I hope you're looking for yourself."

She assured him: "We came here for you." Surveillance footage captured them perusing the store, sharing laughs, until the boy selected a Gucci belt.

"She just said 'pick something'," he recalled. As she leaned on the cash desk, chuckling with the boy while he used his phone, she used her credit card to purchase the belt, priced at £345.

He said: "I don't know why you have done that. It's a lot of money really."

They returned to her flat in Salford Quays. Boy A admitted feeling 'a bit weird' about being there but, once inside, he took a seat on the sofa as Joynes settled beside him.

The situation escalated in her bedroom where they began kissing and then engaged in sexual activity. She insisted repeatedly: 'no one better find out'. Reflecting on the encounter, he said: "At the time, I thought to myself 'this is just weird'. It was just crazy."

After showering, Boy A spent a couple of hours lying next to Joynes on the bed. That evening, he suggested 'doing it again', to which Joynes responded: "I don't mind, whatever you want."

Consequently, they had sex again. He admitted that they did not use protection, recalling how he expressed to Joynes: "I hope to God, you don't get pregnant." In response, Joynes disclosed some health issues that might affect her chances of getting pregnant.

The following morning, around 7.30am, Joynes vacated the flat, leaving her keys with the boy so he could lock up after her. During his stay, he texted his friend who he was supposed to lodge with that he didn't know where he was.

On his friend's request, he sent his location via Snapchat, leading to his friend and his mum coming to fetch him from the flat. Describing Boy A's state, the friend pointed out: "He was very upset and was crying," as Boy A said: "I'm dead meat, my mum's going to kill me,".

To his friend's mum, he falsely claimed he had been at a house of a girl his own age. Before taking him home, his friend's mum warned him: "I'm not going to tell your mum this time, but don't do anything this stupid again."

Boy A then told about his shopping adventure and subsequent experience at Joynes' apartment to his friend, who tagged the scenario as grooming upon hearing about them having sex.

Back at school rumours began circulating and police were notified. The reality dawned on his mum, prompting Boy A to apologise: "Mum, I'm so sorry I lied to you."

He pleaded for her not to return to the school. But once there, he cooperated with the police investigation.

Joynes got was suspended, though she managed to erase her phone contents with another boy's assistance before her arrest. Three months on, Joynes had moved back in with her parents in Wirral and was working at their café.

She kept up her fitness regime by travelling to Greater Manchester for gym sessions and strolls around Salford Quays. During this period, she struck up a friendship with another lad. "I added her on Snapchat, but she declined me," revealed the 15 year old known as 'Boy B'.

"I just had her on subscription, so you can't message each other. Then one day, my mum saw her on my phone and was like 'what the f**k', so I removed her then added her back."

"She then added me back. I ended up messaging her on my way into school, and said something along the lines of 'if the police have your phone, change my name', and I changed her name on my phone too."

Their communication intensified, with daily exchanges between Joynes and the boy. One time, Boy B jokingly said 'get your t**s out' to which Joynes responded: "Not tonight."

He said: "As a young lad I thought I was in there and then things progressed and I started asking if I could meet up with her." Eventually, they did meet; Boy B got off the tram early and they took a walk together. Afterwards, they headed to her flat.

He said: "It was kind of awkward at first, obviously she was probably nervous because she didn't want to get caught and I was nervous because I was meeting up with someone double my age and I'd known them for a number of years."

Sitting on the sofa, he asked her: "Am I not ever going to get a kiss? " The trial heard Joynes straddled the teenager while kissing him. She then said she wanted to wait until he was 16 before they had sex.

He said: "I had never thought about meeting her, I thought she wouldn't do it again after she had already done it and been caught."

Joynes would go on to send him a picture of her bottom on Snapchat. He replied with a 'love heart eyes' emoji. He continued: "I thought she liked me, she had sent me pictures of her body so basically I asked if it would progress."

Just after his 16th birthday, Boy B told his parents he was going to go and watch Manchester United play at Old Trafford with a mate. Instead, he sold his ticket and went to Joynes' flat. They had sex, the court heard. He said: "I was nervous about it."

The relationship continued, with the teenager making excuses to go to her flat. "Most of the time, we ended up having sex," he said. He was aware of her bail conditions, with the main being she was not allowed to be around anyone under 18 without supervision.

He said he found the court file about Boy A and had seen pictures of the CCTV from Selfridges when she bought him the Gucci belt. "She said Boy A was a 'f***ing liar, he knows he is lying as well'."

Joynes called Boy A a 'cocky pr**k'. Things soon turned toxic.

"I wanted to end it. She asked for my location on Snapchat and my password. I think she was emotionally abusing me. It was mental warfare for me," said Boy B.

He expressed his love for Joynes but admitted she used to threaten him whenever he tried to break up. The pair would argue regularly, with her interrogating him about erased chats.

"Towards the end I pretty much went bipolar. It's such a relief not having to worry about messaging someone or watching my words.

"When I was in it, I knew what it was, I knew it was wrong. She is really deceiving, really pretty, really smart, funny. I would say 'you are a f***ing weirdo', you're a n*nce basically, go find someone your own age. Then I would calm down and feel bad and go back. I realise I sacrificed 18 months to be with a paedophile."

In the last phase of their relationship, he found out she was pregnant and Joynes took two pregnancy tests in front of him. "I thought she would be smart and get rid of it," he revealed during a video interview shown in court, while Joynes cried in the dock.

"I loved her and didn't want to pressure her to get rid of it. It's my own fault. We were irresponsible and didn't use protection and she got pregnant. The child hasn't asked to be conceived. I just thought 'what the f**k am i going to do? '."

During a dispute, when Joynes suspected he was seeing another girl, she threatened: "I swear to God, if I lose this baby, it's because of you." Following this, she wept and said: "Why does this always happen to me? ".

On the night before he went to the police, Joynes orchestrated a date night in an attempt to reconcile their differences.

"She put rose petals down and ordered a Pizza Express," he said. "She had notes around the apartment. 'Here's your first surprise, for the next one go into the bathroom'. At the end there was a baby grow saying 'I love my daddy'. She started crying and I started crying," he revealed.

Asked about his feelings for her, he said: "I don't know. Obviously I knew it was wrong, she's got something mentally wrong with her to do that. But obviously she is nice and I think she is a nice person... but she's not really, is she? ".

He confessed to initially falsifying the dates they first were intimate his preliminary police interview, as he felt compelled to 'shield her'. Boy B said: "I now realise I shouldn't have. I thought if I didn't tell the truth she might get away with it and I would have to fight for custody of my child."

The revelation sent shockwaves through his family. The boy's dad stated: "I apologised for him not being able to tell me about what happened and said how much I loved him. I tried to say it was serious and so wrong. He stated that he got it, but it had not been like that and he didn't feel that it was wrong."

Joynes awaits sentencing this July.

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