![Burglar pinches GCSE coursework from Blythe Bridge High School pupil]()
This is Staffordshire --
SCHOOLGIRL Shannon McGeary has been left heartbroken after some of her GCSE coursework was stolen in a burglary.
The coursework and books – which included two years of work – was taken from the hallway of Shannon's grandmother's house in Brunswick Place, Hanley.
Make-up and headphones were also pinched during the break-in between 5pm and 6pm on February 5.
Now Blythe Bridge High School is supporting year 11 pupil Shannon who is due to sit her GCSEs this year.
Shannon, who lives in Chatsworth Place, Meir, said. "I walked to my gran's house from Hanley Bus Station at about 4pm and when I got in I put my bag in the hallway.
"I then went downstairs at around 6pm to see that the front door was wide open, but I didn't think much of it, made sure the door was closed and went for a shower. It wasn't until 8.30pm when I went to get a textbook that I realised the bag was missing.
"I now have so much to catch up on at school."
Shannon is now staying later at school to try to catch up with her studies.
Mother Kate McGeary, aged 34, added: "Shannon was absolutely devastated and was panicking and clearly shaken up.
"I'm furious. The next few months are going to be stressful enough for her, and I don't know how she's going to be able to catch up.
"It makes you angry that people would actually commit a burglary.
"This could have a massive effect on the colleges Shannon wants to get into next year. The coursework, textbooks and other school equipment will mean nothing to whoever has taken them but it's so important to her. This could put her back a whole year through no fault of her own – it's unfair."
Grandmother Dawn Ollerhead, aged 68, of Brunswick Place, said: "It is unbelievable that people would take a school bag.
"The police were very good in reassuring us but I am gutted for the girl.
"She was absolutely heartbroken. It's been very traumatic for her."
Teachers at Blythe Bridge High School are helping Shannon to try to replace her missing work.
A spokesman said: "We are supporting Shannon during this difficult and stressful period. Our staff will be working with Shannon to help her replace any missing work."
Staffordshire Police have carried out house-to-house inquiries in their hunt for the burglar. The burglar pinched a Fred Perry school bag, Apple headphones, a make-up bag and a key.
Anyone with information about the burglary should call Staffordshire Police on 101, quoting incident number 727 of February 5 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.
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This is Plymouth -- A MAN accused of raping a girl has appeared at Plymouth Crown Court. Geoffrey Rooney, aged 38, faced a judge to answer four counts involving sexual abuse and possession of indecent images of children. He allegedly twice raped a girl aged under 13 in Cheshire on December 27 and December 28. Rooney, of Camperdown Street in Devonport, is also accused of sexually assaulting the girl on December 27. He is finally charged with taking 13 indecent photographs of a child. Two of the images were level four and 11 were level three, with level five considered to be of the worst nature. Rooney, who appeared over the videolink from Exeter Prison, did not indicate any pleas to the offences. Judge Paul Darlow remanded him in custody until April 28, when he will be expected to plead guilty or not guilty. Rooney was arrested as part of a police operation on January 9.
Reported by This is 10 hours ago.
This is Devon -- A jailed teacher who ran away with a 16-year-old schoolgirl has been transferred to Dartmoor prison. Jeremy Forrest, 31, is currently serving a five-and-a-half year sentence for sexual offences and abduction after fleeing to France with the girl when she was just 15. The schoolgirl who ran away with jailed teacher Forrest has reportedly written three 'love notes' to him in prison saying she wants to get back together with him when he is freed. According to reports, the girl, now aged 16, has sent Forrest three letters saying she still cares for him and wants to rekindle their relationship. However, when authorities at Ashfield prison in Bristol refused to let him read the messages, he complained - apparently prompting him to be moved to the Dartmoor jail in Princetown. The decision by prison bosses to prevent Forrest from reading the letters came after social workers banned the girl - who cannot be named for legal reasons - from speaking to him until she is 18. The disgraced teacher, who was told the letters had been sent, is understood to have complained to prison authorities, demanding to know if they had broken the rules by confiscating the letters without having carried out a risk assessment. A source told The Sun: 'The girl has written three letters to him, which have been taken. She wants to be in contact with him. 'They are about wanting to be with him. They are warm messages to him. They're not dumping letters. She wants to continue a relationship with him.' Forrest's family believe that the decision to move him from Ashfield to Dartmoor is a direct result of the row over the letters, after he demanded to know whether the correct procedures had been followed when prison chiefs withheld the notes from him. It had previously been reported that the schoolgirl had 'dumped' the teacher after finding a boyfriend her own age, but then broke up with her new lover because she still had feelings for Forrest. The Prison Service has refused to comment on the reports of the girl's love letters. Forrest triggered an international manhunt last summer when he fled with the girl. He had groomed her when she was one of his 14-year-old pupils at Bishop Bell School in Eastbourne, East Sussex. After taking her virginity one week after her 15th birthday in his marital home, they left for France, using the names Jack Dean and Gemma Grant. At first, the girl's devastated family feared she had been kidnapped but soon after CCTV footage showed her with her arms around her teacher on board a ferry from Dover to Calais. They were on the run for eight days before being found in Bordeaux where he was arrested in front of her. He was convicted of child abduction and five counts of sexual activity with a child at Lewes Crown Court in June. The girl has reportedly confided in friends that she is desperate to speak to the former teacher. After Forrest was jailed, she said: 'I love Jeremy so much. I don't want anyone else. I want to spend the rest of my life with him and maybe once he's out, we can marry and have children.' The college student, now 16, claimed she instigated their escape to France, adding: 'If anything, I groomed him.' Forrest, who will have to sign the sex offenders' register for life, has been divorced by his wife, Emily, 32, after she cited 'unreasonable behaviour' in divorce papers. The former couple are believed to have sold the family home and divided the proceedings.
Reported by This is 9 hours ago.
This is Exeter -- A jailed teacher who ran away with a 16-year-old schoolgirl has been transferred to Dartmoor prison. Jeremy Forrest, 31, is currently serving a five-and-a-half year sentence for sexual offences and abduction after fleeing to France with the girl when she was just 15. The schoolgirl who ran away with jailed teacher Forrest has reportedly written three 'love notes' to him in prison saying she wants to get back together with him when he is freed. According to reports, the girl, now aged 16, has sent Forrest three letters saying she still cares for him and wants to rekindle their relationship. However, when authorities at Ashfield prison in Bristol refused to let him read the messages, he complained - apparently prompting him to be moved to the Dartmoor jail in Princetown. The decision by prison bosses to prevent Forrest from reading the letters came after social workers banned the girl - who cannot be named for legal reasons - from speaking to him until she is 18. The disgraced teacher, who was told the letters had been sent, is understood to have complained to prison authorities, demanding to know if they had broken the rules by confiscating the letters without having carried out a risk assessment. A source told The Sun: 'The girl has written three letters to him, which have been taken. She wants to be in contact with him. 'They are about wanting to be with him. They are warm messages to him. They're not dumping letters. She wants to continue a relationship with him.' Forrest's family believe that the decision to move him from Ashfield to Dartmoor is a direct result of the row over the letters, after he demanded to know whether the correct procedures had been followed when prison chiefs withheld the notes from him. It had previously been reported that the schoolgirl had 'dumped' the teacher after finding a boyfriend her own age, but then broke up with her new lover because she still had feelings for Forrest. The Prison Service has refused to comment on the reports of the girl's love letters. Forrest triggered an international manhunt last summer when he fled with the girl. He had groomed her when she was one of his 14-year-old pupils at Bishop Bell School in Eastbourne, East Sussex. After taking her virginity one week after her 15th birthday in his marital home, they left for France, using the names Jack Dean and Gemma Grant. At first, the girl's devastated family feared she had been kidnapped but soon after CCTV footage showed her with her arms around her teacher on board a ferry from Dover to Calais. They were on the run for eight days before being found in Bordeaux where he was arrested in front of her. He was convicted of child abduction and five counts of sexual activity with a child at Lewes Crown Court in June. The girl has reportedly confided in friends that she is desperate to speak to the former teacher. After Forrest was jailed, she said: 'I love Jeremy so much. I don't want anyone else. I want to spend the rest of my life with him and maybe once he's out, we can marry and have children.' The college student, now 16, claimed she instigated their escape to France, adding: 'If anything, I groomed him.' Forrest, who will have to sign the sex offenders' register for life, has been divorced by his wife, Emily, 32, after she cited 'unreasonable behaviour' in divorce papers. The former couple are believed to have sold the family home and divided the proceedings.
Reported by This is 9 hours ago.
This is Staffordshire --
This is Bristol -- A maths teacher who was jailed after eloping to France with one of his students was held at the new prison for sex offenders in Pucklechurch. Jeremy Forrest, 31, hit international headlines when he fled with the then 15-year-old girl in September 2012. While he was at Ashfield, which for years was home to young offenders, according to The Sun newspaper the girl wrote positive letters to Forrest, but the prison did not allow him to read them. Forrest, who taught at Bishop Bell School in East Sussex, first kissed the girl when she was 14. The pair had sex after she turned 15. When police were alerted they fled to France by ferry, travelling under false names. While on the continent they dyed their hair, stayed in budget hotels and touted bogus CVs in a bid to land bar work. They spent seven days on the run before being caught in an undercover police sting in Bordeaux. Last year, Forrest was jailed for five-and-a-half years at Lewes Crown Court for child abduction and sexual activity with a child. He is due to be released next year. Afterwards the girl 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." But social workers have banned her from having contact with him until she turns 18 and, several months ago, she was reported to have had a boyfriend nearer her age. According to the Daily Express, Forrest has now been moved to Dartmoor prison in Devon and has written to the newspaper claiming that a ban on contacting the girl breaches his human rights. Forrest retrained as a cook and started a self-funded Open University degree while at Ashfield. The Prison Service said it did not comment on individual inmates.
Reported by This is 15 hours ago.
This is Staffordshire --
This is Staffordshire --
This is Grimsby --
This is Plymouth -- A SCHOOL in Torpoint has written to parents warning them and their children to be extra vigilant after two men asked a pupil to get in their vehicle. Torpoint Community College deputy headteacher, Neil Maslen, wrote to parents on Monday after the incident which occurred at around 8am in Millbrook. The pupil was said to have been waiting for a school bus in the area when two men in a white transit style van stopped and asked if she wanted a lift. According to police she told the men no and that she was going to call the police, which she did. A spokesmen for the police said: "This happened while she was waiting for her school bus around 8am. She was approached by two men in a white transit style van. She refused to get in the van and called the police. She acted very sensibly. "As a result we had extra officers in the area yesterday and are doing the same again today." Mr Maslen's letter read: "It is with great concern that we make you aware of an incident that happened this morning. "A female student on her way into the College from the Millbrook area was approached by two men in a van, who asked her to get into the vehicle. Luckily, she was able to get her phone out and called the police. The men drove off and the girl was unharmed. We are working closely with the student and her parents. "The police have responded by speaking to the student concerned and by having a strong police presence around the area. They are also putting extra patrols on over the next few days. "Please can you make sure that your children are extra vigilant and if they see anything suspicious or if they are approached that they contact the police immediately."
Reported by This is 15 hours ago.