Paedophile jailed after abducting schoolgirl

A paedophile maths teacher jailed after he abducted an underage schoolgirl and ran away to France with her now wants to rekindle his relationship when he is released.

The girl, now 18, is also said to have asked for the legal restrictions banning him from seeing her to be lifted when he is released from prison, expected to be next month, the Daily Mail reported on Sunday.

Jeremy Forrest, at the time a married maths teacher, was jailed for five and a half years in June 2013 for abducting and having sex with his vulnerable pupil.

The 32-year-old groomed the girl from the age of 14 at a school in East Sussex and later triggered an international manhunt when the pair fled to France using fake aliases.

He has previously insisted he is not a paedophile but simply fell in love with his pupil, the daily said.

After going on the run for eight days, Forrest was caught by police in Bordeaux after he was recognised by a worker in a bar where he had tried to get a job.

The paedophile teacher, who took the schoolgirl's virginity a week after her 15th birthday, is now said to be keen on a reunion with his former pupil, the Mail said.

Up until now, all contact between the two has been banned.

After Forrest's sentencing, the schoolgirl said: "I love Jeremy so much. I want to spend the rest of my life with him and maybe once he's out, we can marry and have children."