Teacher Guilty Over Sex With 16-Year-Old Pupil

Former PE teacher Bronwen James, 30, has been found guilty of three counts of sexual activity with a 16-year-old pupil while working at Bitterne Park School in Southampton, Hampshire.

James was convicted at Winchester Crown Court on Thursday, 10 September 2026, following a trial over her relationship with the teenage boy. She was found not guilty of one further count of sexual activity involving the same pupil.

The court heard that James developed an inappropriate relationship with the student while she was working as a teacher. Prosecutors said she flirted with him in class before the pair began communicating through Snapchat.

The relationship later moved outside the school environment. James drove the pupil to Weston Shore in Southampton, where they kissed in her car. They subsequently went to James's home, where they watched television before going to her bedroom, where they had sex.

The boy later told police that he had been “groomed” by James. The court also heard allegations that she gave him vapes hidden among his coursework and encouraged him to call her “miss” when they were alone.

The prosecution said another student discovered messages between James and the boy and showed them to a teacher. Prosecutor Edward Culver told the court that the messages indicated a sexually charged relationship and suggested that James had deliberately concealed the boy's identity.

The prosecution argued that James had abused her position of authority and failed to maintain appropriate boundaries with a pupil in her care.

James had also previously pleaded guilty to several separate sexual offences involving two other schoolgirls. Those offences included sexual activity, sexual communication and making an indecent photograph of a child.

Bethany Adams, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said James had exploited her position of authority and described the conduct as a sustained pattern of behaviour involving children in her care.

James has been remanded in custody and is due to return to Winchester Crown Court on Monday, when the date and arrangements for her sentencing are expected to be addressed.