Pupil tells how teaching assistant accused of seducing him threatened to have him shot by gypsies

The boy told how he believed married mother-of-two Helen Turnbull, 35, has accessed school records to find out where he lived and see through her threat.

Ms Turnbull is accused of having sex with the 16-year-old three times in her car after grooming that began when he was 12 with sweets and cuddles in class.

Giving evidence on a police video, he told how matters took a chilling turn when he started making excuses not to meet her when their fling became "too much."

The lad, who squirmed with embarrassment as he was asked for intimate details of their sexual encounters, said he became "really worried and anxious" at her threats.

Despite giving explicit details of their encounters, the boy referred to her throughout as Miss Robson, her maiden name and the one she always used in class.

He told the police interviewer: "She said she was going to get . . . me shot. She said 'you deserve shooting, I am going to get a contract out" with a family of gypsies.

He added that she named a family of gypsies

"People were telling me what the (family) do. She sent the messages to me because we argued. We argued over stupid stuff."

The teenager added: "She came by my house but I never told her my address, I don't know how she found out where I live, that is what worried me the most.

"She had made threats that she is going to get people to come and see me and she has found out where I live. I was worried, it is really bad."

Earlier in the interview, the boy had struggled through embarrassment to give intimate details of their sexual encounters during secret trysts.

After they had sex, literacy assistant Turnbull, of Church View, Haswell, County Durham, handed him a packet of 10 cigarettes, the boy said.

She denies three charges of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust between June and July last year. She admits one charge involved kissing the boy.

The trial continues.