LONDON: A British schoolgirl and her married maths teacher, who triggered a Europe-wide hunt after running away together a week ago, were found by police yesterday in the southwestern French city of Bordeaux.
British police said teacher Jeremy Forrest, 30, had been arrested on suspicion of abducting 15-year-old Megan Stammers. The pair were found strolling down Bordeaux’s main shopping street.
Forrest faces extradition to Britain while Megan was being looked after by British consular staff and child protection officers, police told a press conference in the pair’s home county of Sussex, southeast England.
“She will be returned to the UK to be with her family,” Chief Inspector Jason Tingley of Sussex Police told journalists.
He added that the pair were found after a member of the public saw Forrest in Bordeaux and recognised him from television coverage.
French officials said the couple had been found on a public street in the centre of Bordeaux.
A French police source said they were arrested in the city’s main shopping street -- the 1.2 kilometre pedestrian rue Saint-Catherine -- while going for a job interview. Forrest was later seen leaving the police station last evening in an unmarked police car. He was hidden from view by officers and the vehicle left for an unknown destination, accompanied by two escort cars.
Prosecutors emphasised that French police were not investigating the case but simply carrying out an international arrest warrant issued by British authorities.
The pair had not been seen since boarding a cross-Channel ferry together on September 20. CCTV pictures were released of them holding hands and walking arm in arm onboard the ferry from Dover to the northern French port of Calais.
Their parents had appealed for them to get in touch but played down fears that the schoolgirl could be in any danger.
Megan’s stepfather Martin Stammers yesterday said that he was “over the moon” after the pair were found, and thanked French and British police for helping to trace them.
“We just can’t wait to be reunited with her,” he told the press conference in Sussex.
“Our family are overjoyed at the outcome. As you can imagine, it’s just been an absolute emotional rollercoaster.”
Terry Boatwright, head teacher of Bishop Bell Church of England School where Megan is a pupil, said the school was “delighted” she had been found.
“Clearly, much needs to be done now to support Megan, and her family, as they seek to return to some sort of normality and we will do all we can to play our part in that,” he said.
There was never any suggestion that Stammers was taken by Forrest against her volition.
French authorities had been accused by the British media of failing to take her disappearance seriously after some judicial officials were quoted as saying the couple were not being actively looked for.
Under French law, a 15-year-old is not considered a minor in sexual terms, unlike in Britain, where the age of consent is 16.
But Forrest could be deemed to have committed a crime in France if he was found to have abused the position of authority he had as Stammers’ teacher.
AFP
