A maths teacher got pregnant by one of her pupils while awaiting trial for taking another schoolboy back to her luxury apartment for sex, a court heard today.
Rebecca Joynes, 30, had been on bail accused of ‘grooming’ a 15-year-old for sex by buying him a £345 Gucci belt from Selfridges at the Trafford Centre.
She then drove him in her white Audi to her flat in Salford Quays where they had sex twice, a jury heard.
But despite her telling him ‘No-one better find out’, he messaged a friend over Snapchat to tell him he had ‘just had sex with Ms Joynes’, they were told.
And when the friend refused to believe him, he secretly took a photograph of her and sent it to him, prosecutors alleged.
Rebecca Joynes, 30, had been on bail accused of ‘grooming’ a 15-year-old for sex by buying him a £345 Gucci belt from Selfridges at the Trafford Centre
Joynes pictured outside Manchester Crown Court alongside her father after being charged with two counts of sexual activity with a child
Word spread over the weekend, and the following Monday police were called to the school in Greater Manchester where she worked, and she was arrested, the trial heard.
Joynes was released on bail not to contact any child under 18 and suspended from her job.
But while she was awaiting trial for engaging in sexual activity with a child, ‘remarkably’ it was revealed that ‘quite brazenly’ she was in a long-term sexual relationship with a boy prosecutor Joe Allman said.
The affair with the second boy – during which he claimed they had sex around 30 times – was exposed after she told him she was expecting his child, Mr Allman said.
This came as ‘a shock’ to the schoolboy as she had told him she couldn’t get pregnant.
Today Joynes – who the jury was told has since had the baby – sat with her arms folded in front of her and wearing a lilac-coloured jacket and with her blonde hair down as the prosecution case against her was laid out.
In October 2021 she was giving the first pupil – referred to as Boy A – additional maths lessons ahead of his GCSEs at the school where she worked and which cannot be named for legal reasons, Manchester Crown Court heard.
He later told police she set him a challenge to guess her mobile phone number, having given him ten of the 11 digits, Mr Allman said.
Joynes was released on bail not to contact any child under 18 and suspended from her job
The prosecutor told jurors this was ‘obviously a game designed for him to guess her number’.
They began swapping messages and arranged that the 15-year-old would come to her flat after school that Friday night, the court heard.
‘At first he thought she was joking,’ Mr Allman said.
But that day she picked him up in her car before collecting her dog from a doggy day care centre, dropping the pet off at her parents before taking him to the Trafford Centre.
The jury were shown what Mr Allman said was ‘crystal clear’ CCTV footage of Boy A pulling out various belts at the Gucci concession Selfridges.
Joynes – wearing a turquoise jacket – could then be seen placing her bank card down on the counter before Boy A put on the belt.
Mr Allman told jurors she had been ‘grooming’ the boy.
Further CCTV footage shows the pair arriving at her apartment, Mr Allman said, where the boy told police they had sex twice.
Joynes (pictured with her father) – wearing a turquoise jacket – could then be seen placing her bank card down on the counter before Boy A put on the belt
But after the boy told friends, police were called to the school the following Monday, and Joynes was arrested.
She answered ‘no comment’ at interview, but now accepts buying the belt and taking Boy A to her flat.
‘You may decide she has no choice but to accept that because it’s caught on CCTV and other pretty irrefutable evidence,’ Mr Allman said.
But she denies sexual activity took place with Boy A, he told jurors.
It was only after Boy A’s court testimony was pre-recorded ahead of Joynes’ trial that the alleged relationship with the second pupil, Boy B, was revealed, Mr Allman said.
Boy B told police they began kissing when he was only 15, the court heard – but Joynes claims sexual activity only took place after he turned 16 and she had been sacked as a teacher.
Boy B told police he attempted to follow her on Snapchat in about February 2022, and that she later send him a photograph of her bottom covered only by a pair of knickers.
Messages became more ‘flirtatious’ and he too agreed to come round to her apartment, he claimed.
Joynes denies six counts of sexual activity with a child, two of them while in a position of trust
Initially he sat ‘nervously’ on her couch, but then they ‘started kissing’ before going into her bedroom and having sex, Boy B told police.
In the following months they had sex ‘numerous times at different places’ on an estimated 30 occasions, he said.
But after setting up a ‘date night’ and strewing her apartment with rose petals, he said she handed him a baby grow marked ‘Best Dad’ and told him she was pregnant.
She also bought a scratchcard from Victoria’s Secret featuring sexual fantasies for them to act out, he said.
Boy B also told police that after going to Joynes’ fifth floor apartment for the first time, as he sat on the couch he told her: ‘Am I not even going to get a kiss?’
He said they didn’t use protection when they went on to have sex as she told him she had polycystic ovary syndrome.
Interviewed by police for a second time, Boy B gave a different version of events – possibly a sign, Mr Allman said, that he had initially been trying to ‘cover’ for Joynes.
This time he said he had ‘repeatedly’ tried to end the relationship but she became ‘controlling’ and wouldn’t let them break up.
He said Joynes gave him the ‘shock’ news that she was pregnant by leaving a ‘trail of surprises’ around her flat, including the rose petals and scratchcard – culminating in a ‘baby grow’ with ‘I love my daddy’ written on it.
Mr Allman told jurors that while her relationship with Boy B ceased to be illegal once he had turned 16 and she had been sacked, it was the prosecution case that it had already become sexual by that point.
Jurors were told that Boy A packed an overnight bag before being picked up by Joynes, lying to his mother that he was staying with a friend.
The following morning Joynes left first, telling him to give her the keys to the flat when she saw him in class on the Monday as she was spending the weekend with her parents.
But he left his phone charger and Airpods behind so they arranged to swap the items when they were back at school.
However the prosecutor said ‘rumour began to circulate’ over the weekend, and after a call was made to Childline, police spoke to Boy A at school before he could hand them over.
He was found to have her keys and the Gucci belt, Mr Allman said.
Both of Joynes’ parents watched proceedings from the public gallery.
Earlier Judge Kate Cornell told jurors they should ‘put aside’ any ‘assumptions and stereotypes’ they might have about people who commit sexual offences against children and weigh up the evidence with a ‘cool head’.
Joynes was arrested over his allegations in June 2023, the court heard.
Police had to knock and wait for her to answer the door, and when they entered her apartment they found her phone had just been put into reset mode, wiping the data it contained.
She again answered ‘no comment’ to questions.
Joynes denies six counts of sexual activity with a child, two of them while in a position of trust.
The trial continues.