Caught by love note, class helper who had fling with girl of 15
A TEENAGER’S affair with a teaching assistant came to light when her mother found a note saying, “You were amazing last night,” a court heard yesterday.
Hamid Bhatti and the pupil, then aged 15, had already been spotted blowing kisses to each other at school.
Questioned by police, the girl insisted nothing was going on and Bhatti claimed she had been pestering him.
But the pair were in a relationship and had sex at least 14 times including once on his bedroom floor while another teenage girl slept in his bed, it was alleged.
Bhatti, 24, gave her cash, a necklace and a cushion with the words “I love you” written on it, the jury was told.
The girl, who cannot be named, was studying for her GCSEs at a school in Yeovil, Somerset, where Bhatti was a teacher’s aide in the maths department.
He asked her to go on a date and they had sex a few days later, it was alleged.
Concerns were raised in May 2014 when an astonished teacher saw her blow Bhatti a kiss from a classroom window which he “caught” and returned, Taunton Crown Court heard.
Bhatti was sacked in June 2014 and went to work in a restaurant.
A month later the pupil was questioned again after turning up for lessons with a black eye.
But she repeated that there was no sexual relationship and were called in again in October 2014 when her mother found a handwritten note from Bhatti to her daughter.
It read: “Hey baby, I’m sorry I had to leave this morning for work. You were amazing last night as always.
“I hope you get this message and leave me a note. Plan to see you soon. I love you. PS don’t forget to go to the doctors.”
Police issued Bhatti with an anti-abduction notice which banned him from contacting her.
But he allegedly saw the girl after she went missing from home in February last year.
He denied seeing her but officers spotted her trying to sneak out of his house in Yeovil.
Bhatti was arrested in June last year after the girl, who had turned 16, finally revealed the “whole truth,” Mr Bremridge said.
Bhatti, now of York, denies five counts of sexual activity with a child between May 2014 and February 2015 and child abduction.
He admits having sex with the girl after that but denies knowing she was under-age at the time.
The trial continues.