(This was published before Megan and Jeremy were tracked down in Bordeaux )
AM I the only Brit who believes maths teacher Jeremy Forrest’s romantic continental jaunt with pupil Megan Stammers does not constitute a heinous crime?
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| Jeremy Forrest |
The news that the couple’s disappearance was to be featured on BBC’s Crimewatch programme confirmed to me that the UK authorities see the guitar-playing Forrest as an evil paedophile.
Which I doubt vey much.
We now know the guy has been under a lot of stress (helped, no doubt, by antagonism from those trying to keep him away from Megan).
So I can understand why they decided to flee to a country where they can be together without fear. And where better than France, a nation which understands the complexities of romance and passion better than any.
“We are not going to arrest Jeremy Forrest,’’ announced a senior French prosecutor on Wednesday. “He is not a criminal.’’
That’s because the age of consent in France is 15, not 16. But from the massive UK police and media campaign to track the couple down, you’d think the guy had run off with an eight-year-old.
The manhunt has been pretty useless anyway. As I write, the lovers are probably somewhere in darkest Transylvania. Or perhaps even in Torrevieja, in which case Crimewatch won’t be hearing from me.
Did you wonder, as I did, why the UK police called that dramatic initial press conference with Megan’s parents on Monday…and then told us Megan was in no danger?
Forrest’s ‘crime’ seems to be that he has allowed himself to become emotionally entangled with one of his students.
Hardly an offence to justify the kind of dragnet normally reserved for dangerous killers.
Assuming that Jeremy and Megan are aware of the chasing rat pack, their feelings for each other will be growing by the day. And that is precisely what Megan’s family do NOT want.
The fact that the couple have been canoodling for several months in the face of widespread disapproval indicates that they are happy to lock out the world if it allows them to stay together.
And the WORST thing Megan’s family, her school and the police can do is to try to keep them apart forcibly.
Love will always find a way, even if Britain’s ‘enlightened’ society still deems any teacher-pupil relationship as sordid and wicked. When the teacher is married (albeit very flimsily), the demonisation increases dramatically. So much so, that we have so-called experts suggesting on Sky TV that he’s a child-molester who has been ‘grooming’ Megan to satisfy his evil desires.
‘‘Megan has done nothing wrong,’’ came the cry at that first over-dramatic press conference. What about Forrest? Silence…until that French lawman opened his grand bouche on Wednesday.
If Sir is found, or he and Megan decide to come home, I fully expect the UK police to hurl Forrest behind bars.
However, Megan is unlikely to encourage Jeremy to surrender to a system that may well deprive her of her boyfriend for several years.
The likelihood is that he will be banged up and charged with everything from abduction to under-age sex. Just about everything except Whipping a Pleb on a Bicycle, in fact.
From the way Megan’s distraught parents pleaded with her to phone them, you’d have thought her life was in imminent danger. Yet the police assured us they had no fears for her safety, despite her failure to return to the UK with Forrest on a pre-booked car ferry on Sunday.
The public witch-hunt against her companion just didn’t add up from the start. To demonise Forrest in huge headlines merely drives a bigger wedge between Megan and those who have already tried and convicted the man she ran away with.
It certainly makes it less likely that she will contact her seemingly frantic family.
Forrest clearly has issues of his own, not least the break-up of his marriage – and naturally Megan’s nearest and dearest would prefer her to mix with youngsters her own age. There is also the unwritten taboo that the paths of teacher and pupil must never cross outside the classroom.
As for the fact he is twice Megan’s age, so what?
One of my daughters married a man 14 years older than herself and he’s the best father in the world. There were a few tut-tuts when she started going out with him when she was 20 – but they knew what they wanted. And so, I guess, do Megan and Jeremy.
How many of you reading this column had a schoolgirl crush on one of your teachers? OK, so you just fantasised about it…but what a romantic thought, to be whisked off to an exotic country, away from all the nay-sayers, by the man you want most in the entire world.
Megan sounds to me like a typical teenager– a bit of a rebel who resents her parents and school officials trying to regiment her into a lifestyle that pleases them.
My other daughter rebelled at 14, became a punk and was barely 16 when she moved into a hovel with her boyfriend. But she grew out of the romanticism (along with her hideous nose ring) and now we look back and laugh at it all as she works to keep her own flock of three from going astray.
I don’t know the full details of Jeremy Forrest’s background, but in the absence of anyone speaking up for him, I found myself trying to understand his motives.
Logically, he should have waited until Megan is 16. But if they want to be together so much that they are prepared to risk everything, then my instincts say leave them to get on with it.
At least until they are ready to return to the fold.
From my own experience, the best way of bringing young rebels back into the fold is to give them more rope, not hang them. What I do know is that the way the Jeremy and Megan affair has been handled does nobody any favours.
If I were them, I’d dump the car, jump on a long-haul flight … and head for somewhere exotically romantic with no extradition treaty.
It’s unlikely they’ll live happily ever – but what a good plot for a romantic thriller.
Which I doubt vey much.
We now know the guy has been under a lot of stress (helped, no doubt, by antagonism from those trying to keep him away from Megan).
So I can understand why they decided to flee to a country where they can be together without fear. And where better than France, a nation which understands the complexities of romance and passion better than any.
“We are not going to arrest Jeremy Forrest,’’ announced a senior French prosecutor on Wednesday. “He is not a criminal.’’
That’s because the age of consent in France is 15, not 16. But from the massive UK police and media campaign to track the couple down, you’d think the guy had run off with an eight-year-old.
The manhunt has been pretty useless anyway. As I write, the lovers are probably somewhere in darkest Transylvania. Or perhaps even in Torrevieja, in which case Crimewatch won’t be hearing from me.
Did you wonder, as I did, why the UK police called that dramatic initial press conference with Megan’s parents on Monday…and then told us Megan was in no danger?
Forrest’s ‘crime’ seems to be that he has allowed himself to become emotionally entangled with one of his students.
Hardly an offence to justify the kind of dragnet normally reserved for dangerous killers.
Assuming that Jeremy and Megan are aware of the chasing rat pack, their feelings for each other will be growing by the day. And that is precisely what Megan’s family do NOT want.
The fact that the couple have been canoodling for several months in the face of widespread disapproval indicates that they are happy to lock out the world if it allows them to stay together.
And the WORST thing Megan’s family, her school and the police can do is to try to keep them apart forcibly.
Love will always find a way, even if Britain’s ‘enlightened’ society still deems any teacher-pupil relationship as sordid and wicked. When the teacher is married (albeit very flimsily), the demonisation increases dramatically. So much so, that we have so-called experts suggesting on Sky TV that he’s a child-molester who has been ‘grooming’ Megan to satisfy his evil desires.
‘‘Megan has done nothing wrong,’’ came the cry at that first over-dramatic press conference. What about Forrest? Silence…until that French lawman opened his grand bouche on Wednesday.
If Sir is found, or he and Megan decide to come home, I fully expect the UK police to hurl Forrest behind bars.
However, Megan is unlikely to encourage Jeremy to surrender to a system that may well deprive her of her boyfriend for several years.
The likelihood is that he will be banged up and charged with everything from abduction to under-age sex. Just about everything except Whipping a Pleb on a Bicycle, in fact.
From the way Megan’s distraught parents pleaded with her to phone them, you’d have thought her life was in imminent danger. Yet the police assured us they had no fears for her safety, despite her failure to return to the UK with Forrest on a pre-booked car ferry on Sunday.
The public witch-hunt against her companion just didn’t add up from the start. To demonise Forrest in huge headlines merely drives a bigger wedge between Megan and those who have already tried and convicted the man she ran away with.
It certainly makes it less likely that she will contact her seemingly frantic family.
Forrest clearly has issues of his own, not least the break-up of his marriage – and naturally Megan’s nearest and dearest would prefer her to mix with youngsters her own age. There is also the unwritten taboo that the paths of teacher and pupil must never cross outside the classroom.
As for the fact he is twice Megan’s age, so what?
One of my daughters married a man 14 years older than herself and he’s the best father in the world. There were a few tut-tuts when she started going out with him when she was 20 – but they knew what they wanted. And so, I guess, do Megan and Jeremy.
How many of you reading this column had a schoolgirl crush on one of your teachers? OK, so you just fantasised about it…but what a romantic thought, to be whisked off to an exotic country, away from all the nay-sayers, by the man you want most in the entire world.
Megan sounds to me like a typical teenager– a bit of a rebel who resents her parents and school officials trying to regiment her into a lifestyle that pleases them.
My other daughter rebelled at 14, became a punk and was barely 16 when she moved into a hovel with her boyfriend. But she grew out of the romanticism (along with her hideous nose ring) and now we look back and laugh at it all as she works to keep her own flock of three from going astray.
I don’t know the full details of Jeremy Forrest’s background, but in the absence of anyone speaking up for him, I found myself trying to understand his motives.
Logically, he should have waited until Megan is 16. But if they want to be together so much that they are prepared to risk everything, then my instincts say leave them to get on with it.
At least until they are ready to return to the fold.
From my own experience, the best way of bringing young rebels back into the fold is to give them more rope, not hang them. What I do know is that the way the Jeremy and Megan affair has been handled does nobody any favours.
If I were them, I’d dump the car, jump on a long-haul flight … and head for somewhere exotically romantic with no extradition treaty.
It’s unlikely they’ll live happily ever – but what a good plot for a romantic thriller.
Published in The Courier (www,thecourier.es) - September 28, 2012
