Sex case teacher victim of boys' minds

The teacher accused of having sex with two of her pupils was "lonely and vulnerable" and fell victim to the boys' testosterone-fuelled imaginations, a court heard today.

Defence counsel Andrew Thompson said Amy Gehring, 26, was "harassed" by pupils who "tried and convicted her" at the Surrey state school where she taught before the case even came to trial.

Gehring, who lives in Hampton, denies four charges of indecent assault against brothers aged 14 and 15 at the time of the alleged offences, in the winter of 2000.

Summing up the defence case at Guildford Crown Court, Mr Thompson asked the jury: "Can you be sure that the boys' stories are anything more than too much testosterone on the part of two schoolboys supported by a complex web of rumour, innuendo and supposition?"

The stories began, he said, when Canadian-born biology supply teacher Gehring was harassed by her pupils for being a "curiosity" because of her accent. He said: "That might be the seed from which all this has grown. Can you rule that out? If you can't, how can you possibly convict?"

He suggested the boys got carried away with the momentum of the case, and to accept their stories the jury "would have to excuse them a fair amount of inconsistency". He added: "Did you observe them [outside court] chewing gum, smiling from time to time and appearing to be enjoying the attention?"

He said the elder brother's claim to have had sex with his teacher on three occasions was "just a story that got stronger and stronger and clearly enhanced his reputation among his friends".

The younger boy was, said Mr Thompson, a "competitive younger brother". The alleged sex that was supposed to have taken place with him in an alley "could not have happened. It is so unlikely as to be incredible". Mr Thompson also said that if, as the prosecution alleged, Gehring was "a goer, someone who sleeps around", she would probably be on the contraceptive pill, which she was not.

Earlier today, prosecutor Stella Reynolds urged the jurors to ignore the idea that the alleged encounters were "every schoolboy's dream" and imagine the case if the sexes were reversed.

"If this was a male teacher having the sexual encounters with girls in his charge without even a thought about the use of a condom to protect them, you wouldn't then say, 'This must be every schoolgirl's dream'," she said. "Are you going to put your hand on your heart and say that because they are boys, they deserve less consideration in the eyes of the jury?"

The court adjourned for the day in mid-afternoon due to a juror's illness. The jury is expected to go out tomorrow.

The case continues.