Teacher who had sex with teenage boy 'mortified and embarrassed', court hears
A high school teacher in England aged in her 50s has told a jury she was "having some sort of midlife crisis" when she slept with a teenager.
Deborah Lowe is accused of engaging in sexual activity with a child when being a person in a position of trust but she says sex only took place when the boy was aged 17 and he had left her school.
Giving evidence at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, the former air hostess and divorced mother-of-two said she was "so ashamed" about the relationship.
She told the court that she first slept with the complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in December 2016 at her flat.
Lowe, 53, said: "He said he missed me. He had been thinking about me a lot and then we kissed, and then I am very embarrassed to say that we ended up in bed together, which I regret."
Her barrister, Neil Usher, asked her: "What do think now about a lady of your age having sex with a young man of that age?
She replied: "I'm mortified. I'm embarrassed. I think I was having some sort of midlife crisis.
"I have never done anything like that before. I don't know why I did it. I am so ashamed."
The next time the pair had sex was four months later at his family home while his mother was out, she said, and then about "half a dozen times" in June 2017 at her static caravan in Poynton.
Mr Usher said to her: "Is there any truth in the suggestion that you had any form of sexual activity with (the complainant) while he was still at school?"
The defendant replied: "No."
The court was earlier told of a WhatsApp message she sent to a friend in October 2016 in which her friend wrote: "We can't all have a 17-year to shag. Lol xxxx"
In response, Lowe posted: "Can I just say for the minute I am not shagging him and I am merely a mother figure. However if not in the too distant future he wants to discuss the merits of an older woman I will be there for him."
Her friend wrote: "Yummy. Can't say I blame you."
Lowe then replied with emojis of a bottle of baby lotion and a pair of handcuffs.
The defendant told the jury it was a jokey conversation as her friend knew she had not been in a relationship, or slept with a man, for nine years.
Lowe denies five counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust said to have taken place between April 1, 2015, and June 30, 2016.
On Thursday, the jury was directed to return a not guilty verdict on a separate count of engaging in sexual activity with a child.
The defendant agreed with Justin Hayhoe, cross-examining, that the complainant was the only pupil she had given her personal phone number to.
But she denied that was because she was attracted to him and wanted to spend more time with him.
The court heard she sent him more than 300 text messages between March and May 2016 but Lowe said none were of a sexual nature.
She said the messages related to her efforts to help and support him in finding work.
Mr Hayhoe suggested to her: "The truth is you were sexually obsessed with (the complainant) and that is the explanation for your excessive contact with him in March, April and May.
"And that is the explanation of sending a card to him saying 'who else can I be a slut with?' in April 2016."
Lowe said: "I sent the card in 2017."
The trial continues on Monday.
