A TEACHING assistant groomed a schoolboy with sweets and cuddles then had sex with him in her car next to a crisp factory, a court heard.

Helen Turnbull, 35, sent the lad a photo of herself in her underwear and they swapped suggestive messages over Facebook and her phone.

The mother-of-two admits kissing the pupil, but denies having sex with him or performing sex acts on him, Teesside Crown Court was told.

Ms Turnbull - known at her County Durham school as Miss Robson, a literacy assistant - is alleged to have paid the boy special attention.

She admitted giving the 16-year-old hugs and sweets in front of others, but insisted she was simply rewarding him for his good behaviour.

She accompanied him on a prom and sat next to him at a school awards ceremony, prosecutor Sarah Mallett told the court today (Monday, November 10).

After the prom, she returned home drunk and altered her Facebook profile from a picture of her daughter to one of her and the teenager.

As her marriage crumbled amid claims of an affair, Ms Turnbull is said to have messaged the boy on Facebook to arrange to meet out of school.

They had a secret meeting and they cuddled, then kissed, Miss Mallett said, and before they parted Ms Turnbull warned him not to tell anyone.

They met again a week later and this time had sex in her Mini, but had to stop because another car pulled up nearby, the jury heard.

Miss Mallett said they met and there was sexual activity twice more in the coming month before boy then began to cool on the relationship.

He felt pressured and if he did not reply to texts Ms Turnbull would send hostile ones and made threats, the prosecution alleged.

The teenager's father found out and saw Turnbull in her car in his street, despite the boy never telling her his address, the court heard.

Miss Mallett said: "He was angry and called her a paedophile. She said 'It's not like that', but he was, perhaps understandably, too angry to listen."

Deleted messages recovered by police included them discussing staying in a hotel and how nice it would be for them to share a bed.

In one text, she told the boy: "I will turn up but I am not some easy 16-year-old. No way will you get my kit off without some graft."

Ms Turnbull, of Church View, Haswell, County Durham, denies three charges of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.

Miss Mallett told the jury: "It is not suggested that [the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons] did not consent to what happened.

"These offences arise because of the need to protect children while they are at school from exploitative relationships with adult teachers who have trusted access to them, that can allow them to groom people in their care, so they then willingly engage in sexual activity."

The trial continues.