The Runaway Schoolgirl (7 page)

T
he next morning was crazy as we packed bags in preparation for our mystery tour to the safe house in the country.

Max and I agreed that Alfie should stay with him while we were away; he often stayed with his dad and we felt it would be too confusing to upset his routine by taking him off to the country. He had been bewildered enough by all the cars in our street and the strangers that had been coming round, and we wanted everything to be as normal as possible for him.

It was the worst packing I have ever done and I ended up leaving loads of things we needed for Lilly at home. What we packed was really quite random. I didn’t have a clue where we were going, or what we would need, and I seemed to have packed loads of one thing and not enough of another. As you may have gathered, my mind wasn’t really on what I was doing!

Jim called to explain how the police planned to make sure we weren’t followed to the safe house. He would pick me up and drive me to Eastbourne police station, where we would then swap cars and go on to pick up Gemma from Gatwick airport before heading for the safe house. Paul was going to come along later with Lilly, while Chloe would follow on with Lee and Maddie the following day.

Jim came to pick me up and at Eastbourne police station we duly swapped cars. I had to duck down in my seat in case any of the reporters there spotted us. It was so surreal. It was only when we got a few miles away from the station that we felt sure we weren’t being followed to the airport.

Meanwhile, Paul was at home with Lilly when all of a sudden he heard car doors slamming out in the road and looked out to see a mass exodus of press speeding off in their cars. They had obviously been tipped off that Gemma was going to be on the flight from Bordeaux that was arriving at Gatwick at 3pm.

I don’t know which route Jim and I took to get to Gatwick, but eventually we pulled up at a small building set apart from the main airport terminal. The building was surrounded by armed police officers, and we were taken inside by two smartly dressed hospitality people. They asked if I needed anything and I nervously asked them if I could have a coffee. The next thing I knew I was being served a coffee in a very nice china cup and saucer. I didn’t realise that we had actually arrived at the Royal Suite and were getting the full VIP treatment!

We were led into an immaculate reception room with leather sofas, televisions on the walls and tables laden with muffins, sweets and drinks. It looked out on to the tarmac at Gatwick and we were told that it is where the royal family
and foreign dignitaries fly out from. Next to that room was another airy room with fresh fruit on the table. It was very smart and spotlessly clean. One of the hospitality people told me that it was always kept ready in case a VIP needed to use it, but they were never informed who the VIP was beforehand for security reasons.

While Jim and I waited for Gemma’s flight to arrive, we watched the news on TV and read more of the press coverage of Gemma’s story. The
Daily Mail
claimed that Gemma had used my passport, which was completely untrue – she had taken her own passport with her. She subsequently threw it away when she and Forrest arrived in Paris, which meant she had to get special clearance to travel back to the UK without one.

After what seemed like the longest wait, the plane landed and Gemma, accompanied by Hannah and Andy Harbour, was brought to us in a minibus.

The next thing I knew, Gemma was standing there in front of me. She dropped her bag and flung her arms around me, and we both cried as we held each other tightly.

She looked tired and drawn; she felt like a bag of bones and smelt unfamiliar. Although she had only been away for a week, I could see on her face that the stress of it all had taken its toll. She had tried to bleach her hair to disguise herself, but it had gone a bit wrong and it was now a strange orange colour. Her clothes had been taken away for DNA testing, so she was wearing clothes that the British consulate had bought for her. They were a bit too big, which only made her look even thinner.

I felt so sorry for her and was so incredibly relieved to have her back.

Switching into mum mode again, I asked her if she had eaten. She told me the first proper meal she had been able to eat was the night before with Hannah and Andy Harbour, who had been looking after her. Hannah had shared a room with her and Andy had kept knocking on the door throughout the night to check she was still there. They were under strict instructions from Mark Ling to make sure she didn’t run away again and Hannah even made sure to sleep by the window in case she decided to try and make an escape. As a result, none of them had slept very well and they all looked completely exhausted.

Meanwhile, the press were waiting in the arrivals hall at the airport, ready to capture our tearful reunion for tomorrow morning’s newspapers. What they didn’t know, of course, was that we were at a different part of the airport, from where we could quickly get away unnoticed.

Once we were in the car and on our way to the safe house, I decided that it would be a good time to let Gemma know that her story had been in the press ‘quite a bit’ – I didn’t want her to get a shock when she saw the headlines. I asked her if she had seen anything about their story in France, but she said she hadn’t been paying attention to French newspapers or TV. She said Forrest had spotted a small news bulletin about them having gone missing when they had visited an internet café, but nothing more.

At that very moment, a news report came on the radio saying that Gemma would be returning to England that afternoon. I remember the expression on her face as the penny dropped and she realised that the story was much bigger than she thought.

After a 45-minute drive, we pulled up at a lovely cottage
tucked away from the main road in Tenterden in Kent. It had a small garden that backed on to rolling fields and inside was everything we needed. It felt safe and a million miles away from prying eyes.

As Jim and Hannah left, Paul arrived with Lilly and the hugs and tearful reunions began again. Gemma was so happy to see her baby sister. ‘Now, finally, I can begin to relax,’ I thought, ‘my family is coming back together.’

It was like a heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I knew there would be a lot of tears and heartache to come, but all that mattered was that Gemma was safe.

Gemma wanted to sleep in the same bedroom as me and so that night we pulled the two twin beds together and cuddled up. She proceeded to pour out her heart to me about what had happened in France. I didn’t ask her to elaborate or start interrogating her, I just allowed her to talk and talk and talk until the early hours of the morning, and she fell asleep in my arms.

I have never told anyone what Gemma said to me that night, and I swore to her then that I never will. A lot of the facts came out in the subsequent court case, but much of that night’s conversation was about her innermost thoughts and feelings. It is a moment that I will always treasure.

The following morning, Lee and Maddie arrived with Chloe. I was worried that the kids would tell Gemma too much about what had been going on while she was away, or bombard her with questions, but they were really respectful and caring about how she would be feeling. They were so happy to have their sister back and just started up the usual sibling banter, taking the mickey about her hair colour and
talking about general teenage stuff. We missed Alfie not being with us, but it made me so happy to see them all bickering again like normal brothers and sisters.

I
was finding it hard to process what Gemma had told me the night before. It was going to take me a long time to come to terms with what I had heard.

Chloe could tell that I was troubled and asked me what had happened. She didn’t pry – she never has – but she wanted me to know that she was there for me if I ever needed a shoulder to cry on. The whole situation was so strange. We all just had to try to deal with things the best we could and move forward at our own pace.

A little while later, Jim came over to take DNA swabs from Gemma’s mouth, after which Hannah and Sarah came over to interview her. When they were in France, Hannah had asked Gemma if the police could examine her, but she had refused, which she had every right to do. As it was, it turned out that an examination wasn’t vital because the
police had found so much incriminating DNA evidence on her and Forrest’s clothing, but I assured Hannah and Sarah that I would get Gemma checked over with our GP and the sexual health clinic.

There was so much for Gemma to take in. Paul had brought a huge pile of newspapers with him, and over the next few days she pored over every single one of them.

Gemma was shocked at how the story had spread and how the press had spun it, and became frightened at how she had suddenly become public property. She couldn’t take it all in. Imagine being an ordinary schoolgirl one day and then world news the next. It was a completely overwhelming experience.

She tried to get in touch with Louise, but got no reply. Frustrated, she tried again and again, and finally she got a text message back. As before, though, it had clearly been scripted by Louise’s mum. It didn’t sound like Louise at all.

Understandably, Gemma was really upset. She missed Forrest terribly and believed that he loved her and that they should – and would – be back together, but she couldn’t talk to her best friend about it.

I wanted to scream to Gemma, ‘Don’t you realise what a monster he is for what he did to you?’ But I knew that wouldn’t help matters. As she spoke to me, I had to try to make sure I reacted as if she was talking about any other boyfriend. Of course I wasn’t pretending it was the best news ever, but I had to strike the right chord. I needed to be someone she could trust and had to try and be realistic about the situation.

When Gemma was missing, I spent the entire time hoping Forrest truly cared about her and would look after her. When I saw pictures of him, I wanted to believe that he was a good man and wouldn’t harm her. If Gemma had been an adult
and had met someone fifteen years older than her, I would probably have been a bit disappointed, but I would have accepted it. This was different, though. He was her teacher and had a duty of responsibility. She was only fourteen years old when they began their relationship.

It didn’t help that some people on the internet – particularly in the comments sections of newspaper stories – were describing it as some kind of modern-day Romeo-and-Juliet story, completely overlooking the fact that he was her school teacher and she was only fourteen when they got together. Not only had Forrest crossed the line, he had broken the law and destroyed her childhood.

Gemma kept saying, ‘He’s not like that. If you knew him, you would understand’, and bit by bit she began to tell me how their relationship had developed, how they had got to know each other through the various after-school clubs that she was involved in, and how the two of them had gone on to spend time together.

Louise and Ben would often provide alibis for the two of them to meet up. When I dropped Gemma at Louise’s house, for example, she would stay there for five minutes and then be picked up by Forrest, who would then drop her back at Louise’s fifteen minutes before I was due to pick her up. And the days when Gemma had gone to Brighton with Ben … Yes, she had travelled there with Ben, only to spend the day with Forrest.

Then there were the times when she was supposedly staying overnight at Louise’s. One time, soon after Lilly had been born, I needed her to go shopping for me as I had to rest after my C-section. It was coming up to Father’s Day and I wanted to get a present for Paul from Lilly; it was going to be his first
Father’s Day as a dad himself and I wanted it to be special for him. At the time, I thought Gemma was at Louise’s, and I rang and rang her. When she eventually called back, she was really flustered and kept tripping herself up with what she was saying.

She later told me that she had been with Forrest that day – and there were several other incidents, too.

Louise and Ben knew all about their relationship and were completely caught up in the romance of it all. I didn’t blame them – they were kids after all. They knew what they were doing wasn’t right, but they didn’t want to betray their friends.

Forrest was such a good manipulator that he had convinced Louise and Ben that they were all friends together, that somehow the teacher–pupil relationship didn’t apply to them. He was an educated man and must have known how much of a risk he was taking. I later heard rumours that Gemma wasn’t the first to have fallen for his charms.

The time that we all had together at the safe house in Tenterden was important to us; it was precious family time away from all the madness of the press. For three days, we laid low, playing board games and trying to relax. It was great to be ‘normal’ again.

I must admit, though, I still felt a bit paranoid. The whole time I kept the curtains drawn in the rooms at the front, and I was a bit wary when I met the woman who lived next door, convinced she must know who we were. I even hid from the people on horses when they rode past the cottage. It was madness, I know, but I really wasn’t myself.

We were meant to be staying at the cottage until the Wednesday, but we decided to leave on the Tuesday night. If there were any reporters still hanging around outside our
house back in Eastbourne, there would be less chance of them being there if we got back late, we reckoned.

Luckily, the coast was clear when we got back. We were able to unload the car easily and, finally, make ourselves at home again.

G
emma took one look at her bedroom and said: ‘I’m not sleeping there!’

She was adamant. For a start all her things seemed to be in different places since the police had searched it, but more than anything it just had too many memories for her. In fact, she never slept in that room again.

Tucked up on the sofa in her pyjamas, my little girl looked so scared and vulnerable. I was so relieved to have her home again, but I was still worried that she might try and run away to be near Forrest. ‘Please don’t run away again,’ I pleaded with her. She looked at me sadly before saying, ‘I’ve got no reason and nowhere to run away to …’

On the Wednesday, Gemma was due to be interviewed by officers at a police house in Hailsham. Before we set off, I asked how she had slept, and she told me she’d had nightmares
all night. Later I found out what they were about and I’m not surprised in the slightest that she was disturbed.

When Forrest was arrested, Gemma was seized by plain-clothes policemen, dressed in black. Not knowing who they were, she panicked, thinking she was being kidnapped. Kicking and screaming to try and get away, the policemen had been quite forceful with her. The whole experience had been extremely traumatic for her, particularly on top of everything that she had already gone through. Little wonder she was haunted by what had happened.

The police house was a really odd place. Downstairs it was like any other normal house, but upstairs there was a medical room and a soundproof room with cameras and recording devices. It is used in cases where it is deemed that it would not be suitable to use a regular interrogation room – when, for example, the police are interviewing a minor or a vulnerable victim. Gemma ticked both of those boxes.

While Gemma was being interviewed upstairs I stayed downstairs. I thought it would take an hour or so, but the session ended up lasting seven hours. She was allowed comfort breaks, of course, but the poor thing had to endure hours and hours of questioning. All I wanted to do was put my arms around her and take her out of the situation, but I couldn’t. ‘I’m sorry, sweetheart, I know this is awful for you,’ I told her, ‘but there are questions that need to be asked.’

The police wanted to know every single detail about how she had met Forrest, and how their relationship developed. Trouble was, what she revealed in those initial interviews was completely different from what she was later to say in court.

At the time, she wasn’t focussing on anyone’s negative opinions about her relationship with Forrest. Swept up in the
romance of it all, she couldn’t understand why it was such a big issue. She was very frank and honest about what had happened. As far as she was concerned, it was a love story, pure and simple. She felt mature enough to make her own decisions in life and was frustrated that people couldn’t understand that.

For my part, I was torn. I knew she loved Forrest, but I wanted her to understand that he had crossed the line. Whatever she thought of him, he had a duty of care as her teacher. He knew that he was breaking the law.

It was to take a while for her to realise that Forrest was not all he seemed. At the time, she was too much in love with him and totally wrapped up in the romance of it all. In her eyes, she didn’t see that there was any problem and had no idea about the true depth of his manipulation.

The police also discovered that Forrest had allegedly been seeing other women while he was having the relationship with Gemma. Amazingly, I believe his wife Emily never suspected a thing.

I heard rumours about a girl who worked in a pub in Bristol and another woman in London he was allegedly having an affair with. As far as Emily was concerned, he was just heavily involved in school activities and various further education courses. She had no idea that anything untoward was going on.

Forrest had told Gemma that he and Emily had stopped having a physical relationship. Again, though, he wasn’t telling the truth. Yes, there had been arguments between them, but they were working on their marriage to fix it.

I so wanted to believe Gemma for her own sake, but meanwhile, the evidence was stacking up against Forrest.