Drunken game 'led to sex with teacher'

A teenager told a court today of a drunken game of dares which led to him having sex with his teacher when he was a pupil at a top public school.

The boy was 16 years old when the alleged incident happened with Hannah McIntyre, 25, who was a trainee classics teacher at Merchant Taylors' Boys' school in Crosby, Merseyside, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

McIntyre denies one count of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.

Giving evidence in her trial today the boy - now an 18-year-old undergraduate - told the jury that he and two school pals had gone round to McIntyre's home one Friday evening in January 2008 "for a laugh".

He said when they knocked on the door she invited them inside, where the three boys questioned their teacher about her colleagues at the £8,000-a-year school.

Later, he claimed, she bought them two-litre bottles of Strongbow cider which they consumed until they were drunk and started playing a game of dares.

He said: "My friend dared her to kiss me but she was saying she shouldn't have to do that because it was a 'big deal'."

But the witness told the jury McIntyre relented, saying she would kiss him if the other two boys carried out a dare to "peck" each other on the lips.

The witness said the boys did carry out the dare and added: "Then she kissed me. It was quite passionate."

Afterwards, the court heard, boys spent the night at McIntyre's home with the alleged victim sleeping in her bed and the others in the living room.

The witness said he could not remember following her into the bedroom because he was so drunk.

But once they were in bed, he claimed, she took her pyjama bottoms off and he climbed on top of her.

"Did you have penetrative sex?" Mr Baxter asked.

"Yes," the boy replied. "When I climaxed she pushed me off to one side and I fell asleep."

The next morning the three boys left McIntyre's home and he later confided in a friend what had happened.

When he next saw the defendant, at school on the following Monday, neither spoke to each other or acknowledged what happened.

He told the jury he had lost his virginity with McIntyre and afterwards he was "really down for a while" because of it.

He then claimed the three boys and their teacher conspired to keep the events of that night a secret until almost a year later, when his mother questioned him about it and he told her what had allegedly taken place.

Under cross examination by Mary McKeone, defending, it emerged the boy first made the allegations shortly after he had been suspended from the school for the third time in six months.

The defence says he invented the story about them having sex in order to deflect attention from his poor behaviour.

Miss McKeone said: "Do you remember going upstairs to her bedroom?"

The boy replied: "No."

She continued: "Do you remember getting into bed with Miss McIntyre?"

The boy again said he did not and Miss McKeone asked: "Do you remember saying anything to her? Did she speak to you?

"Was there any conversation?"

Again the boy replied that he could not remember.

The barrister said: "At what point did you take your trousers down?

"What led to you having penetrative sexual intercourse?"

The witness said he still could not remember and Miss McKeone put it to him: "The reason you cannot remember any of these details is because it did not happen, did it?"

The boy said: "It did."

The boy agreed with the defence barrister when she said his three suspensions from school, for disobedient behaviour and violence against fellow pupils, had left him at risk of expulsion and jeopardised his university plans.

It was around this time he first made the allegations.

She said: "That's a bit of a coincidence isn't it?"

He replied: "I was allowed back in school before I made the allegations."

Miss McKeone said: "But it certainly took the focus off you."