Pupil, 16, 'who had sex with female PE teacher, 30,' tells court he lied to school and child protection services to 'keep her sweet'

The 16-year-old victim of a female PE teacher lied to the school and Child Protection Services to 'keep her sweet', a court heard. Bronwen James, 30, is accused of having sex with the pupil at her house while they watched Wimbledon and asked him to call her 'miss'. She is alleged to have become 'flirtatious' with the boy and invited him to her home for sex up to four times.The teacher is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of four counts of sexual activity with the teenager, which she denies. She claims the boy was 'put up' by another pupil to make the allegations against her.James allegedly organised meetings with the pupil at Bitterne Park School in Southampton on Snapchat and picked him up so they could kiss in the car as part of their 'sexually charged relationship'.The court also heard that she told him that she 'loved him' and 'wanted to move away' with him.The boy – who cannot be named for legal reasons – told the court that he was 'groomed' by James but at the time thought it was 'great' and made him feel like he was living 'a teenage boy's dream'.In police interview footage played to the court, the boy claimed James liked him to call her 'miss' when they were alone together. Bronwen James, 30, became 'flirtatious' with the teenage pupil and invited him to her home for sex up to four times, jurors were told James allegedly organised meetings with the pupil on Snapchat and picked him up so they could kiss in the car as part of their 'sexually charged relationship' She was teaching at Bitterne Park School in Southampton at the time of the alleged offences 'I always called her "miss", I don't know why, I think it was her little fantasy or something,' he said. He told the court: 'I was just enjoying it whilst it was happening. It was such a weird period of my life. I don't really remember everything that happened and when it happened.'When asked about initially denying his relationship with the teacher, he said: 'That is when Child Protection [Services] came to me and I denied it because it was still going on.'I denied it all to keep her sweet. I had a meeting with the head teacher and I denied it all again with Child Protection.'In his video interview with police, he said that they 'always used to flirt in lessons' before they met up in her car.He said that the following day she came up to him in class and asked him in a 'flirty' manner: 'Where were you last night?'The boy said that they progressed to having sex at her house and added: 'At the time I was overwhelmed. It was great but, looking back at it, it was wrong.'Describing the first occasion at her home, he said: 'She was coming to me on the sofa, head in my lap, watching TV, her dog was there as well, just relaxing, then I leaned in for a kiss. The teacher is on trial at Winchester Crown Court accused of four counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust, which she denies 'We were kissing, then things progressed, I said "Shall we go upstairs?", she said "yes" and we had sex. She got naked and I got naked and that's how it went.' The boy added that in class James, who he described as 'quite attractive', would slip him vapes in his coursework.He also described how James told him that she loved him over the phone while she was standing outside a nightclub with other teachers at her leaving party. He added: 'I thought she cared about me.'Opening the case for the prosecution today, Edward Culver told the court: 'This is a case about a teacher who exploited her position... to engage in sexual activity with one of her students.'She flirted with him. Exchanged messages with him. Took him to her home. And she had sex with him.'At the time of these allegations [the complainant] was 16, a student in Year 11 of Bitterne Park School in Southampton.'James was his PE teacher, having joined Bitterne Park in September 2019. He says Ms James would allow the students to use their phones in lessons. He sought to add her on Snapchat.'She initially refused his attempts to add her on Snapchat but then chose to do so. They started to message each other. The messages became flirtatious. The two met up and went to Weston Shore. They kissed in the car.'Later the prosecution say James picked up [the complainant] and took him to her house. The tennis was on at Wimbledon.'They began watching TV, before kissing and touching each other. She took her clothes off and then he took his clothes off.'Mr Culver said James and the teenager had sex and did not use protection. 'The 16-year-old student felt overwhelmed and excited at the time,' he continued.The prosecutor said the school became aware of the alleged relationship when a student showed another teacher some text messages, said to be between James and the complainant, which suggested a 'sexually charged relationship'.The trial, which is expected to last for seven days, continues.