World Class
Jeremy Forrest intends to marry the
besotted schoolgirl he abducted when she was his 15-year-old pupil, The
Mail on Sunday can reveal.
In an exclusive interview, Forrest’s sister Carrie Hanspaul, 33, says the maths tutor told his parents during a prison visit: ‘ I love her and we want to get married.’
The dramatic twist in the nine-month long saga comes as The Mail on Sunday reveals for the first time the contents of an emotional letter the pupil wrote to Forrest’s parents, in which she declares her undying love for him.
In the five-page note on lilac Laura Ashley notepaper, signed with two kisses, she describes Forrest as ‘wonderful’.
The girl, who recently turned 16, sent it as her former teacher at Bishop Bell School in Eastbourne awaited trial for her abduction and five counts of having sex with a child. He was jailed for five and a half years.
The girl apologised ‘for any upset I have caused’ and said she felt safer while on the run in France with Forrest last September than at home or school.
She told his retired parents: ‘I can’t emphasise enough how everything I feel towards Jeremy is – more than anything – serious . . . he is wonderful.
‘Obviously I now and will continue in the future to stand by him. I do believe that some things are worth fighting for.
‘For now, though I’m going to concentrate on working hard to get the future both me and Jeremy want and I’m preparing for college.’
She added that she had been accepted on an A-level maths course, joking: ‘Maybe he would find it comical as maths was my worst subject at school.’
Mrs Hanspaul described her 30-year-old brother as immature and someone who ‘hadn’t fully grown up yet’, but said she could never think of him as a paedophile and claimed he himself was ‘vulnerable’ at the time of his offences.
She said he was suffering from depression after two years in a ‘destructive’ marriage with his estranged wife Emily.
Speaking on behalf of her parents, Mrs Hanspaul said she had always regarded her younger brother as ‘immature’.
‘He’s never seemed his age,’
she said. ‘I’ve never seen him as a grown-up, even though he’s been a
teacher and he took his job really seriously – but he wasn’t very good
with money.
'He’s still very into music and all that, and it made me think he hadn’t fully grown up yet, as if he felt he was still in his early 20s rather than 30.
‘But the girl comes across as being very mature in the way she expresses herself. She’s an intelligent mature girl.’
Mrs Hanspaul said she felt protective
towards the girl and she was seen offering her a comforting arm at the
dramatic moment when the jury returned their guilty verdict at Lewes
Crown Court last week.
She recalled: ‘Jeremy mouthed to me, “look after her, comfort her”, because she was really upset. So I just turned around and told her it was OK and put an arm round her.
‘I know that she’s the girl that my brother’s in love with. It was hard that she was so upset and that was upsetting him.
'So I suppose I instantly felt protective. I didn’t want to see her sitting there crying
‘If they’re going to carry on and be in a relationship, we would welcome her into our family and offer any support she was to ask for. We are concentrating on getting him through this.
‘He told my dad the first time he saw him that we didn’t need to worry about him, that he was happier now than he’d felt for a couple of years and he could definitely see light at the end of the tunnel.
'My dad says we are the ones holding that light for him at the end of the tunnel, and if that means supporting the girl then we will do that. He’s asked us to look after her.
‘Take the age gap on its own – away from her being under-age – if she was 30 and he was aged 45, there are a lot of relationships like that.
‘I don’t see it as predatory or grooming. It’s not going to be a normal relationship as he’s in prison and she isn’t, so they’re not going to be going out or anything.
'Throughout this we’ve really tried to support him and not to judge him.’
Mrs Hanspaul said she and her parents had been overwhelmed by messages of support on social media following the media interest in the case, and called for lessons to be learned by the educational authorities.
She said: ‘I know that Jeremy lied and
denied things, but if the school did know something was going on between
him and the girl, shouldn’t they have phoned the police sooner than
they did?
'Also, when the police were finally called in, they effectively dropped their investigation.’
Referring to allegations yesterday that Forrest ‘groomed’ another schoolgirl when she was just 13 at his previous school in Kent, Mrs Hanspaul said: ‘In situations like this it’s inevitable that people come out of the woodwork, but what can Jeremy do to defend himself?
‘She could have gone to the police, but she’s gone to the papers.’
She said her family’s focus had been on supporting Forrest for fear he might harm himself in prison, and they had tried not to judge him.
‘‘He’s in the vulnerable prisoner wing of Lewes Prison.
I remember meeting him the first time in prison and asking him over and over, “why the hell didn’t you tell us, why didn’t you ask us for help?”
'He said, “I love her” and he knew
he had done something stupid and wrong, but he said they loved each
other.’
Mrs Hanspaul revealed her brother was nervous on the day the girl gave evidence in court in case she did not return his smile.
‘He was worried that maybe her feelings had changed. I don’t think he could have withstood it if she’d rejected him.’
On the day, the pair exchanged mouthed declarations of love across the well of the court. Mrs Hanspaul expressed sympathy for the mother of the girl, who told the court last week she felt like the daughter she knew ‘was dead’.
She said: ‘It was obviously terrible for her, but the thing is Jeremy has told us all that the relationship with her mother isn’t all it’s been made out to be. It’s worse.
‘And obviously she was worried, I’d be worried. But even at the time her step-dad said he knew Jeremy and he didn’t think she was in any danger.
‘Obviously I’ve thought about this – I can see it from a different perspective because I do have three daughters.
‘It’s hard – girls do fall in love at 15. They can lose their innocence if you like, with someone of their own age.
‘Jeremy didn’t set out to do that. They really did fall in love.’
Mrs Hanspaul, from Orpington, Kent, said she took her three daughters – aged six, five and four –to see their ‘Uncle Jemmy’ in prison recently.
‘It was a difficult decision for us to make, but they adore him.
‘At first we just told them that he and Emily had split up. Then we told them that he has to go and see a judge and the judge has to decide because he’s done something against the law – that he’d run away, no more than that. They’re too young to take in any more.
‘I told them the judge has decided he’d have to stay in prison a little while longer.’
She added: ‘He’s much more himself than he used to be.
‘He’s been amazing in prison, getting involved in teaching and mentoring other prisoners – it’s actually been good for him.’
Cuffed: Jeremy Forrest, pictured smirking as he leaves court after being found guilty, intends to marry his victim
In an exclusive interview, Forrest’s sister Carrie Hanspaul, 33, says the maths tutor told his parents during a prison visit: ‘ I love her and we want to get married.’
The dramatic twist in the nine-month long saga comes as The Mail on Sunday reveals for the first time the contents of an emotional letter the pupil wrote to Forrest’s parents, in which she declares her undying love for him.
In the five-page note on lilac Laura Ashley notepaper, signed with two kisses, she describes Forrest as ‘wonderful’.
The girl, who recently turned 16, sent it as her former teacher at Bishop Bell School in Eastbourne awaited trial for her abduction and five counts of having sex with a child. He was jailed for five and a half years.
The girl apologised ‘for any upset I have caused’ and said she felt safer while on the run in France with Forrest last September than at home or school.
She told his retired parents: ‘I can’t emphasise enough how everything I feel towards Jeremy is – more than anything – serious . . . he is wonderful.
‘Obviously I now and will continue in the future to stand by him. I do believe that some things are worth fighting for.
‘For now, though I’m going to concentrate on working hard to get the future both me and Jeremy want and I’m preparing for college.’
She added that she had been accepted on an A-level maths course, joking: ‘Maybe he would find it comical as maths was my worst subject at school.’
Mrs Hanspaul described her 30-year-old brother as immature and someone who ‘hadn’t fully grown up yet’, but said she could never think of him as a paedophile and claimed he himself was ‘vulnerable’ at the time of his offences.
She said he was suffering from depression after two years in a ‘destructive’ marriage with his estranged wife Emily.
Speaking on behalf of her parents, Mrs Hanspaul said she had always regarded her younger brother as ‘immature’.
Same age as his victim: The Forrest family on
holiday in La Rochelle, France, with Jeremy in the middle aged 16,
posing with his siblings Carrie and Tom
Celebrations: Jeremy and younger brother Tom give Carrie a kiss on her wedding day in 2005
'He’s still very into music and all that, and it made me think he hadn’t fully grown up yet, as if he felt he was still in his early 20s rather than 30.
‘But the girl comes across as being very mature in the way she expresses herself. She’s an intelligent mature girl.’
Family ties: Carrie Hanspaul has spoken to her brother's victim
She recalled: ‘Jeremy mouthed to me, “look after her, comfort her”, because she was really upset. So I just turned around and told her it was OK and put an arm round her.
‘I know that she’s the girl that my brother’s in love with. It was hard that she was so upset and that was upsetting him.
'So I suppose I instantly felt protective. I didn’t want to see her sitting there crying
‘If they’re going to carry on and be in a relationship, we would welcome her into our family and offer any support she was to ask for. We are concentrating on getting him through this.
‘He told my dad the first time he saw him that we didn’t need to worry about him, that he was happier now than he’d felt for a couple of years and he could definitely see light at the end of the tunnel.
'My dad says we are the ones holding that light for him at the end of the tunnel, and if that means supporting the girl then we will do that. He’s asked us to look after her.
‘Take the age gap on its own – away from her being under-age – if she was 30 and he was aged 45, there are a lot of relationships like that.
‘I don’t see it as predatory or grooming. It’s not going to be a normal relationship as he’s in prison and she isn’t, so they’re not going to be going out or anything.
'Throughout this we’ve really tried to support him and not to judge him.’
Mrs Hanspaul said she and her parents had been overwhelmed by messages of support on social media following the media interest in the case, and called for lessons to be learned by the educational authorities.
A younger man: Jeremy Forrest pictured in his younger years, now face five-and-a-half years in prison
'Also, when the police were finally called in, they effectively dropped their investigation.’
Referring to allegations yesterday that Forrest ‘groomed’ another schoolgirl when she was just 13 at his previous school in Kent, Mrs Hanspaul said: ‘In situations like this it’s inevitable that people come out of the woodwork, but what can Jeremy do to defend himself?
‘She could have gone to the police, but she’s gone to the papers.’
She said her family’s focus had been on supporting Forrest for fear he might harm himself in prison, and they had tried not to judge him.
‘‘He’s in the vulnerable prisoner wing of Lewes Prison.
I remember meeting him the first time in prison and asking him over and over, “why the hell didn’t you tell us, why didn’t you ask us for help?”
Revealing: Written on Laura Ashley lilac paper, the schoolgirl tells Jeremy Forrest's parents that she will stand by him
Mrs Hanspaul revealed her brother was nervous on the day the girl gave evidence in court in case she did not return his smile.
The
detective who led the Jeremy Forrest investigation had previously been
suspended from his job for sending out racist and sexually explicit text
messages to his colleagues.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Ling, who was placed in charge of the inquiry last September when Forrest and the schoolgirl fled to France, was singled out for praise by the girl’s mother for his ‘commitment and dedication’ to the investigation.
However, in 2011, while he was District Commander in Hastings, Ling was accused of sending a racist joke by text to colleagues about the model Katie Price’s disabled son, Harvey.
He also allegedly sent an explicit version of the nursery rhyme Little Miss Muffet from his work BlackBerry.
Another, it was reported at the time, featured a song, ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas – Hastings Style’, mocking the town where he grew up and had been District Commander since 2008.
The texts – particularly the one about Harvey, 11, who is blind and autistic and has difficulty walking – were brought to the attention of Sussex Police. Ling was suspended for six months and found guilty of gross misconduct.
He was give a final warning and redeployed to a ‘crime management’ role in Eastbourne.
After the Forrest trial ended last week, he said of the teacher: ‘He was in a position of responsibility, authority and trust over his children in his care, something parents and the wider community expect to be upheld at all costs.’
Sussex Police confirmed Ling was disciplined in 2011, but said he has been commended for his work on the Forrest case.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Ling, who was placed in charge of the inquiry last September when Forrest and the schoolgirl fled to France, was singled out for praise by the girl’s mother for his ‘commitment and dedication’ to the investigation.
However, in 2011, while he was District Commander in Hastings, Ling was accused of sending a racist joke by text to colleagues about the model Katie Price’s disabled son, Harvey.
He also allegedly sent an explicit version of the nursery rhyme Little Miss Muffet from his work BlackBerry.
Another, it was reported at the time, featured a song, ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas – Hastings Style’, mocking the town where he grew up and had been District Commander since 2008.
The texts – particularly the one about Harvey, 11, who is blind and autistic and has difficulty walking – were brought to the attention of Sussex Police. Ling was suspended for six months and found guilty of gross misconduct.
He was give a final warning and redeployed to a ‘crime management’ role in Eastbourne.
After the Forrest trial ended last week, he said of the teacher: ‘He was in a position of responsibility, authority and trust over his children in his care, something parents and the wider community expect to be upheld at all costs.’
Sussex Police confirmed Ling was disciplined in 2011, but said he has been commended for his work on the Forrest case.
On the day, the pair exchanged mouthed declarations of love across the well of the court. Mrs Hanspaul expressed sympathy for the mother of the girl, who told the court last week she felt like the daughter she knew ‘was dead’.
She said: ‘It was obviously terrible for her, but the thing is Jeremy has told us all that the relationship with her mother isn’t all it’s been made out to be. It’s worse.
‘And obviously she was worried, I’d be worried. But even at the time her step-dad said he knew Jeremy and he didn’t think she was in any danger.
‘Obviously I’ve thought about this – I can see it from a different perspective because I do have three daughters.
‘It’s hard – girls do fall in love at 15. They can lose their innocence if you like, with someone of their own age.
‘Jeremy didn’t set out to do that. They really did fall in love.’
Mrs Hanspaul, from Orpington, Kent, said she took her three daughters – aged six, five and four –to see their ‘Uncle Jemmy’ in prison recently.
‘It was a difficult decision for us to make, but they adore him.
‘At first we just told them that he and Emily had split up. Then we told them that he has to go and see a judge and the judge has to decide because he’s done something against the law – that he’d run away, no more than that. They’re too young to take in any more.
‘I told them the judge has decided he’d have to stay in prison a little while longer.’
She added: ‘He’s much more himself than he used to be.
‘He’s been amazing in prison, getting involved in teaching and mentoring other prisoners – it’s actually been good for him.’
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