A TEACHER made sexual comments and wrote flirtatious messages to a pupil he was in a relationship with, a court has heard.

Colin Yeomans is standing trial accused of 20 counts of child abuse, including indecent assault and sexual activity when in a position of trust.

All charges relate a female pupil under 16 who he taught at a south Essex school in 2003 and 2004. The 46-year-old denies all charges.

Yeoman’s alleged victim appeared at Basildon Crown Court yesterday, screened from public view.

A jury had previously been shown videos of her police interviews conducted in December 2018.

The woman told the jury that at the end of the school year Yeomans had written a message on her leaver’s T-shirt with implied sexual references and had also written comments in her year book.

She said: “I would rip them out so that no one else could read them.

“The underlined words were a sexual reference that I would understand and I always worried that anyone else who read the book might understand it as well.”

The court previously heard that Yeomans had allegedly had sex with the pupil on several occasions throughout the school year, including in a Basildon hotel and while she was on a family holiday, despite the teacher not being a member of her family.

Molly Pinkus, defending for Yeomans, said: “Mr Yeomans says there was no sexual relationship, just so you’re aware of his position.”

The woman responded: “That is not true.”

She also stated when she would pass Yeomans in school corridors, he would make flirtatious comments to her.

She said: “He would make a comment like my trousers were quite tight.

“If my top button was not done up, he would say that my blouse was all the way undone, so it was a bit sexual.

“He would make sure his hand touched my hand.”

When she was asked if other people noticed this, she responded: “The boys would always talk and say I was a teacher’s pet because I was always having to do jobs for him.”

Yeomans, of Priory Lane, Great Notley, showed little emotion during the woman’s questioning.

The trial continues.