France To Extradite British Teacher Who Ran Away With Student

[News_Editor]

France to extradite British teacher who ran away with student < br />

2012-10-05 22:24:45 GMT+7 (ICT)

BORDEAUX, FRANCE (BNO NEWS) -- A 30-year-old British teacher who was arrested in southwestern France late last month can be extradited to the United Kingdom where he faces allegations of abducting a 15-year-old schoolgirl who was reportedly in love with him, a French court ruled on Thursday.

The schoolgirl, whose name is withheld from this report because she is a minor and no longer missing, was reported missing on September 21 after she failed to turn up for class at the Bishop Bell C of E School in Eastbourne, a coastal town in East Sussex, about 83 kilometers (51 miles) southeast of central London. Her math teacher, 30-year-old Jeremy Forrest from Ringmer, also failed to show up.

The pair was found to have boarded a ferry from Dover, England to Calais, France at around 9:30 p.m. on September 20 but the girl had told her parents she was staying with friends. Police said the schoolgirl left with Forrest willingly and was not considered to be in danger, with surveillance photos showing them holding hands and reports indicating they wanted to start a new life in France.

The case received intense media coverage in Britain where the age of consent is 16, but French authorities appeared to be less concerned as the age of consent in France is 15 and both had left willingly. Forrest and his student were eventually found in the French city of Bordeaux on September 27, a week after their disappearance, after the teacher was recognized while looking for a new job.

Judge Eric Grafmuller, sitting in the Bordeaux Court of Appeal, on Thursday ruled Forrest can be extradited back to Britain under a European arrest warrant which accuses him of child abduction. The math teacher will have to be flown back to Britain within 10 days but this is not expected to happen until at least Monday.

After a court hearing earlier this week, Forrest's UK solicitor Phil Smith said the teacher is looking forward for the "full story" to emerge in the coming months. "He is very appreciative of the support and assistance given to him by his family and in particular his parents," he said. "Naturally, Jeremy is most concerned about the impact of this episode on all those affected."

The schoolgirl's mother had previously described her daughter as being excited when she last saw her before she ran away with Forrest. And a blog posted on Forrest's website on May 19 talked about trying to deal with a "moral dilemma," although he did not refer to his student or anyone else by name.

"And the overiding (sic) question it left me with was this; How do we, and how should we, define what is right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable???" he said. "I came to a few different conclusions, mainly that actually we get a lot of things wrong, but at the end of the day I was satisfied that if you can look yourself in the mirror and know that, under all the front, that you are a good person, that should have faith in your own judgement."

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-10-05

[GentlemanJim]

The case received intense media coverage in Britain where the age of consent is 16, but French authorities appeared to be less concerned as the age of consent in France is 15 and both had left willingly.

Judge Eric Grafmuller, sitting in the Bordeaux Court of Appeal, on Thursday ruled Forrest can be extradited back to Britain under a European arrest warrant which accuses him of child abduction.

I find it a bit odd that a 'European Arrest Warrant' can be issued when the law is not the same across Europe. One country terms it child abduction, the other country are not bothered. They should tidy all this stuff up, it's what keeps the European Court of Human Rights in business.

[folium]

The case received intense media coverage in Britain where the age of consent is 16, but French authorities appeared to be less concerned as the age of consent in France is 15 and both had left willingly.

Judge Eric Grafmuller, sitting in the Bordeaux Court of Appeal, on Thursday ruled Forrest can be extradited back to Britain under a European arrest warrant which accuses him of child abduction.

I find it a bit odd that a 'European Arrest Warrant' can be issued when the law is not the same across Europe. One country terms it child abduction, the other country are not bothered. They should tidy all this stuff up, it's what keeps the European Court of Human Rights in business.

Actually that's the great strength of an EAW. Namely that an offence committed in one member state can trigger an arrest in another member state even if it would not constitute an offence in the second country. Basically a great breakthrough in scooping up low lifes' who try to gap it outside their own country.

[dieter1]

EAW.

I leave it up to you to decide:

There a many thousands of people imprisoned in Poland, because they were caught driving bicycle (no motorbike, bicycle just with the power of their legs) under influence of alcohol.

In Poland, this is regarded as criminal !

There are some european countries like Rumania, Bulgaria etc, where the legal system is totally corrupted and even the official EU does say this openly.

EAW means, if one corrupted judge in these countries sign a EAW, every police man in the european union has to arrest this man and send him to this country without checking, that the reasons for the EAW are sufficient or even when in the country where the arresting takes place, there is no law, which make this man a criminal.

One has to be very naive not the see, why the EAW is problematic !

[goatfarmer]

dieter 1 is right. EU law protects extradition by consideration ofpunishment, not the nature of the crime or the circumstances of arrest:

<a name="anArt19">Article 19

Protection in the event of removal, expulsion or extradition

1. Collective expulsions are prohibited.

2. No one may be removed, expelled or extradited to a State where there is a serious risk that he or she would be subjected to the death penalty, torture or other inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/en/treaties/dat/32007X1214/htm/C2007303EN.01000101.htm

Since death penalty, torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are prohibited in the EU, it would seem that there is little chance of invoking this Article between Member States.

[Tanaka]

Quote: "Judge Eric Grafmuller, sitting in the Bordeaux Court of Appeal, on Thursday ruled Forrest can be extradited back to Britain under a European arrest warrant which accuses him of child abduction. The math teacher will have to be flown back to Britain within 10 days but this is not expected to happen until at least Monday."

I cannot see there is a case here. The girl is not of legal age in Britain but on the other hand she was not abducted. She was not coerced into coming with him, she did it voluntarily. It would be of interest to know what legal ground the German judge in France bases the arrest on.

[GentlemanJim]

Quote: "Judge Eric Grafmuller, sitting in the Bordeaux Court of Appeal, on Thursday ruled Forrest can be extradited back to Britain under a European arrest warrant which accuses him of child abduction. The math teacher will have to be flown back to Britain within 10 days but this is not expected to happen until at least Monday."

I cannot see there is a case here. The girl is not of legal age in Britain but on the other hand she was not abducted. She was not coerced into coming with him, she did it voluntarily. It would be of interest to know what legal ground the German judge in France bases the arrest on.

Well it seems they both went of their own free will, what the police have to establish is 'did anything happen' between the two of them. I just wonder where it would go in the European Courts as there seems such a wide disparity in the law within Europe.

[TommoPhysicist]

Well it seems they both went of their own free will, what the police have to establish is 'did anything happen' between the two of them. I just wonder where it would go in the European Courts as there seems such a wide disparity in the law within Europe.

If he had sex with her in France, French law applies and no law would have been broken.

If he had sex with her while in the UK, UK law applies and he would be a pedophile.

My guess is he will be crucified by the UK courts no matter what the legality of the situation was.

What would have happened if she had gone on holiday to France, met and had sex with a 30yo French man ....... absolutely nothing and no extradition to the UK.

Edited October 7, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[folium]

Quote: "Judge Eric Grafmuller, sitting in the Bordeaux Court of Appeal, on Thursday ruled Forrest can be extradited back to Britain under a European arrest warrant which accuses him of child abduction. The math teacher will have to be flown back to Britain within 10 days but this is not expected to happen until at least Monday."

I cannot see there is a case here. The girl is not of legal age in Britain but on the other hand she was not abducted. She was not coerced into coming with him, she did it voluntarily. It would be of interest to know what legal ground the German judge in France bases the arrest on.

Abduction of a person under 16 is taking them without the parents consent. End of story.

This sad &lt;deleted&gt; will also be charged with Breach of Trust and underage sex. None of these offences will come as a surprise to this jerk who will hopefully be locked up for a couple of years at least.

[folium]

Quote: "Judge Eric Grafmuller, sitting in the Bordeaux Court of Appeal, on Thursday ruled Forrest can be extradited back to Britain under a European arrest warrant which accuses him of child abduction. The math teacher will have to be flown back to Britain within 10 days but this is not expected to happen until at least Monday."

I cannot see there is a case here. The girl is not of legal age in Britain but on the other hand she was not abducted. She was not coerced into coming with him, she did it voluntarily. It would be of interest to know what legal ground the German judge in France bases the arrest on.

Well it seems they both went of their own free will, what the police have to establish is 'did anything happen' between the two of them. I just wonder where it would go in the European Courts as there seems such a wide disparity in the law within Europe.

Irrelevant as he has been extradited and will probably face three separate charges.

[folium]

Well it seems they both went of their own free will, what the police have to establish is 'did anything happen' between the two of them. I just wonder where it would go in the European Courts as there seems such a wide disparity in the law within Europe.

If he had sex with her in France, French law applies and no law would have been broken.

If he had sex with her while in the UK, UK law applies and he would be a pedophile.

My guess is he will be crucified by the UK courts no matter what the legality of the situation was.

What would have happened if she had gone on holiday to France, met and had sex with a 30yo French man ....... absolutely nothing and no extradition to the UK.

I just don't get why this creep deserves any sympathy let alone apparent support. If all teachers behaved like this would you want to send your kids off to school?

[TommoPhysicist]

Abduction of a person under 16 is taking them without the parents consent. End of story.

He could argue he didn't take her, she went on her own.

Just a thought.

If she was underage (a child), why did UK passport control allow her to leave the country, without proof of parental consent? I thought only parents can take children out of the UK without permission.

Edited October 7, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[folium]

Abduction of a person under 16 is taking them without the parents consent. End of story.

He could argue he didn't take her, she went on her own.

Just a thought.

If she was underage (a child), why did UK passport control allow her to leave the country, without proof of parental consent? I thought only parents can take children out of the UK without permission.

But she didn't go on her own as the pictures prove and he did not have the parents consent. Looks like 3 certain offences, shame....

[Chicog]

Talking of extradition, how come the hook handed islamic fascists extradition to America hasn't made the news thread, but this star-crossed paedophiles has?

[TommoPhysicist]

Abduction of a person under 16 is taking them without the parents consent. End of story.

He could argue he didn't take her, she went on her own.

Just a thought.

If she was underage (a child), why did UK passport control allow her to leave the country, without proof of parental consent? I thought only parents can take children out of the UK without permission.

But she didn't go on her own as the pictures prove and he did not have the parents consent. Looks like 3 certain offences, shame....

My point being, you can't just grab any child and leave the UK. So what went wrong at immigration?

[canuckamuck]

He absolutely knew he was breaking the law. He will get what he deserves.

They could have waited a year but nope

[Chicog]

My point being, you can't just grab any child and leave the UK. So what went wrong at immigration?

She looks a bit older than 15?

Bear in mind they were gone before the alarm was raised, weren't they?

[TommoPhysicist]

My point being, you can't just grab any child and leave the UK. So what went wrong at immigration?

She looks a bit older than 15?

Bear in mind they were gone before the alarm was raised, weren't they?

Bit lax, not checking documents of people leaving the country, don't you think?

I'm gonna try that next time I leave/enter, "British citizen, no need to look in my passport, you can trust me".

[vijer]

So she left willingly? Yep abduction is the correct word to use.

[Chicog]

My point being, you can't just grab any child and leave the UK. So what went wrong at immigration?

She looks a bit older than 15?

Bear in mind they were gone before the alarm was raised, weren't they?

Bit lax, not checking documents of people leaving the country, don't you think?

I'm gonna try that next time I leave/enter, "British citizen, no need to look in my passport, you can trust me".

Welcome to the EU mate. Do you think they check every passport when going to and from France? I'm not even sure you need one, IIRC there used to be some sort of travel card thing that would do the job.