Teacher, 53, ‘sent lewd card to boy pupil, 15, after sex at her house’
A MARRIED teacher who had sex with a 15-year- old boy at her house sent him a card asking ‘Who else can I be a slut with?’ after he blocked her on social media, a court heard yesterday.
Deborah Lowe, 53, who was responsible for pastoral care at the boy’s school, sent the card to him on her own birthday, jurors were told.
It depicted a woman face down in grass with a short skirt on, revealing her knickers, and Lowe wrote alongside the image: ‘This is me after I found out you blocked me!’
Inside, the mother of two wrote: ‘I’m a mess. You blocked me and I don’t know what I have done. Who else can I be a slut with?
‘I would never, ever upset, hurt, harm or make you unhappy. So please tell me what I have done. ... It’s my birthday and I’m so sad.’
She signed off: ‘I bloody miss you, love the slut.’
The card was found by the boy’s mother and police were called, Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court was told.
Blonde former air hostess Lowe, of Poynton, Cheshire, denies one count of sexual activity with a child and five counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.
Justin Hayhoe, prosecuting, told the jury that after she was arrested she gave a ‘ no comment’ interview to police, instead offering a prepared statement.
In it, she accepted she had been in a sexual relationship with the boy – who cannot be named for legal reasons – but said it started when he was 17 so she was no longer in a position of trust as he had left school.
The Crown alleges that their sexual relationship began when the boy was 15 and at school, and although he was not ‘forced or coerced’ he was too young to consent by law.
Mr Hayhoe said that on other occasions, while the boy had turned 16 and could legally have sex, Lowe had broken the law because she was a teacher in a position of trust.
The court was told the two first exchanged numbers and had ‘telephone sex’ before Lowe went further.
Mr Hayhoe said: ‘It was suggested by the defendant she could collect him, take him back to her home and they could engage in sexual intercourse, and that’s exactly what took place when he was a 15-year-old school pupil.’
Lowe is also alleged to have fondled him and had sex with him on a second occasion.
She also paid for a tattoo for him while pretending to be his aunt, the jury heard.
The boy confided in friends about what was going on and felt ‘embarrassed’ before blocking her from contacting him on social media.
Phone records showed Lowe, who also worked for Manchester City FC as a matchday steward, called him for half an hour on two occasions in March last year.
The teacher, who is separated from her husband, also sent him 68 texts that month and 76 the following month, although the contents of the messages were not recovered by police, the court heard.
It was the card, found by the boy’s mother, that led to the police being contacted last summer, jurors were told.
Mr Hayhoe added: ‘ This defendant told him she was going to move abroad and the boy wanted to go with her. His mother was against it.’
She confronted her son and he told her what had been going on before police were called.
All the offences are alleged to have occurred between April 2015 and June 2016.
The trial continues.