#1May 10th, 2007
By ANDREW LEVY
A science master embarked on a year-long affair with one of his pupils after having sex with her in a school store cupboard, a court has heard.
Michael Taylor - now a headmaster - began a secret relationship with the teenager days after she turned 15, the jury was told.
They allegedly met once a week for "music practice" - during which the girl, a talented percussionist, performed sex acts on him.
She was told to keep playing the xylophone during the incidents so anyone passing the classroom did not disturb the couple, the court heard.
Leicester Crown Court was told the teacher liked to be called "Mr Taylor" during sex, telling the girl: "You've got detention with me at the same time next week."
The incidents are alleged to have taken place
during the 1990s, when Taylor was working at Soar Valley College in Leicestershire.
He became principal of the City of Leicester College in nearby Evington last June but was suspended after the allegations came to light.
Nicola Moore, prosecuting, said 45-year-old Taylor began to court the teenager when she was 14.
She told the jury: "He would walk past her form room, making faces and generally flirting.
"They would have long chats over lunch, laughing and joking. It started with him befriending her.
"He would make inappropriate remarks, such as, 'Your hair looks nice' and 'Have you got a boyfriend?'."
When the girl turned 15 the pair had their first kiss in a science store cupboard at the school.
They had sex in the same place days later, the jury heard.
Miss Moore said: "Over the next eight or nine months this became a regular activity.
"They would have physical contact three or four times a week. It mostly took place in the cupboard but also in his car.
"They would drive to secluded spots, where they would carry on their sexual relations.'
The jury was also told the girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was a "keen and talented" musician who was allowed to practise alone at lunchtime.
Miss Moore said the pupil would let Taylor into the music room after he used a "secret knock" and they would then perform sex acts on each other.
She added: "She would carry on playing the xylophone so anyone outside would think she was still practising.
"She recalls this happening once a week. During sex he liked to be called Mr Taylor.
"He would also say 'Bad girl' and 'You've got detention with me at the same time next week'.
"These acts were consensual. She was never forced - she acquiesced and enjoyed his attention. But we say he abused his position of trust."
The girl, now 26, recalled their first kiss in court: "One day he told me to get something from the cupboard. He shut the door behind me, held me and kissed me.
"I was shocked and excited. It wasn't forceful - it was nice. I didn't know it was wrong. I just thought he loved me.
"I was seeing a guy that most of my friends fancied, and he had taken a shine to me."
The court also heard that on one occasion Taylor had sex with the girl in his bed at home while his wife and children were away.
On another he allegedly followed her on holiday to Lincolnshire and had sex with her in his caravan.
Taylor, of Cotgrave in Nottinghamshire, denies committing eight indecent assaults on a girl under 16 and two charges of gross indecency with a child.
He admitted a sexual relationship in his defence statement - but claimed it began after the girl left school and turned 17.
The trial continues.
var itrMId = 230; var itrRqstH = "anm.intelli-direct.com"; sv=13;
