Woman accused of having sex with pupil 'didn't tell boyfriend about abortion'

The ex-boyfriend of a teacher accused of having sex with a pupil in the toilet of a plane after a school trip overseas only found out two years later that she had an abortion, a court has heard.

Andrew Hall said Eleanor Wilson, 29, had broken the news of her pregnancy but then told him she had lost the baby and had needed emergency hospital treatment.

Mr Hall said he first learned that the science teacher had undergone a termination when detectives told him in December last year, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Wilson is on trial accused of having sexual intercourse with a teenage boy on a flight back to the UK in August 2015.

READ MORE Schoolboy ‘lied about sex with teacher to impress friends’,

It is alleged the teacher, then aged 26, kissed and cuddled the student before “beckoning” him into the cubicle where they had sex.

She is also accused of seeing the boy outside of school where they allegedly kissed and cuddled.

Mr Hall told the jury he and Wilson had been together for nine years but split in August 2016.

He said Wilson had told him she was pregnant but then later said she had lost the baby.

“I remember the incident where Ellie called me and she had been rushed to hospital by a colleague after bleeding and had gone to hospital for a procedure,” he said.

“She described that procedure as having a blockage removed and I didn’t ask any further questions other than whether it would affect her chances of having a pregnancy in the future.”

Mr Hall described their relationship as “dysfunctional” but denied he was “controlling” and “aggressive” towards her.

“I would say we could be aggressive towards each other. There were heated arguments,” he said.

Anna Midgley, defending, suggested Mr Hall would be violent, including on a holiday to Italy and at home after he discovered her making a late-night phone call.

“When you had a drink and you were jealous about something, you get angry and you would shout and would get physical,” Miss Midgley said.

Mr Hall replied: “I would not, that’s not true. I was suspicious because I thought she was trying to cover something up.”

Miss Midgley suggested that, after Wilson stopped taking the contraceptive pill, they did not use any other contraception.

Mr Hall said it would be “incredibly unlikely” that he was the father of the child, but added: “We were still having sex every few months. We could have had intercourse around the time of the school trip.”

Miss Midgley asked: “She was saying to you ‘What would happen if I got pregnant?’ and you said ‘You will find yourself at the bottom of the stairs, that’s not happening’ and made references to a coat hanger.”

Mr Hall replied: “That’s not true.”

He went on to describe the incident at home when he caught her having a muffled telephone call with someone else.

“The two phrases that really jumped out were ‘I know you won’t tell anybody’ and ‘I know I can trust you’,” Mr Hall said.

“I opened the door and Ellie went to hang up the phone immediately. I asked who she was speaking to and she denied she was on the phone, which made me more suspicious.

“We to and froed, with me explaining I heard her and she was very aggressive. I was bemused. I continued to challenge her and eventually she told me she had been on the phone to her brother.

“She told me that I could look at the call history but then she drunkenly left the house. It was bizarre. She was upset and quite aggressive and she just walked out.”

Mr Hall said he went looking for her and when he found her she was on the phone again but ended the call and showed him the call history which only listed her brother’s number.

“I don’t know why she thought that would alleviate (sic) me because it just made me more suspicious.”

The court has heard that, when Wilson was first asked in September 2015 by the headteacher about allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a student, she denied it.

It was only months later, when Wilson told a colleague that another pupil was attempting to blackmail her into sex, that the school launched an investigation and she was suspended.

Mr Hall described going to the school with Wilson to talk to the head about the blackmail.

“I would say she was disgusted and upset and I was as well. I was very supportive of her.”

He said Wilson did not tell him about the allegations of the inappropriate relationship and he only found out when he saw news reports of proceedings brought by the National College for Teaching and Leadership.

Mr Hall said he contacted her and added: “I was concerned primarily for what she might do. I was concerned for her personal welfare.

“She did respond and suggested it had all been blown up by the media. It did upset me because she had been dishonest with me on more than one occasion.”

Wilson, of The Rope Walk, Dursley, Gloucestershire, denies four charges of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.

The trial continues.