No retrial for teacher in ‘sex on plane’ case

A TEACHER accused of having sex with a schoolboy in a passenger jet’s toilet on a school trip flight will not face retrial, it was revealed yesterday.

Crown prosecutors said they would not proceed further against Eleanor Wilson after the jury in a first trial failed to reach a verdict. They said the decision was taken after “careful consideration” and consultation with the alleged victim in the case.

Physics teacher Wilson, 29, of Dursley, Gloucestershire, had denied four charges of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.

She was said to have had drinkfuelled intercourse with the teenager on a British Airways flight as they returned from a trip three years ago.

Bristol Crown Court was told Wilson kissed and cuddled the boy before beckoning him into the toilet.

Jurors were told their liaison was exposed months later when another pupil at the school tried to blackmail Wilson into having sex with him.

She had claimed she merely formed a friendship with the boy because she had no companions of her own age she could confide in.

Wilson insisted there was “no truth whatsoever” in the allegations and said the boy imagined what happened Teacher Eleanor Wilson denied claims in the plane toilet. However, she was banned indefinitely from teaching in July last year following a report by the National College for Teaching and Leadership.

At the end of her trial, the jury said there was no “realistic prospect” of reaching a majority verdict after more than 10 hours of deliberation.

The Crown Prosecution Service said: “The CPS has decided not to seek a retrial in this case.

“This decision follows careful consideration, including speaking with the complainant.”