A man who claimed a headteacher took his virginity when he was 15 has told a jury it was a "tumultuous night" when he crept into her tent and had sex with her for the first time.

Afterwards the claimant said he felt a mixture of emotions, though he was "happy with my little self" that he managed to lose his virginity before he was 16, "which seemed really important at the time", Teesside Crown Court heard.

Anne Lakey, 55, from Stanley, County Durham, denies 13 charges of indecent assault said to have occurred in the late 1980s. Six counts refer to a boy who was aged 13 or 14 and the remainder relate to a boy aged 15.

She was a teacher at a school in Sunderland at the time of the alleged offences.

The older boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the jury he was on a group camping trip when he crept into Lakey's tent and he had sex for the first time.

She was then married to Eamonn Toland, who was sleeping in another tent.

The teenager had waited until the early hours before slipping out of his tent to get to hers in the pitch black. He claimed it was Lakey's idea. "It was clearly meant to be a clandestine visit," he said.

He slipped into her sleeping bag and they kissed and cuddled before having sex, he said.

Afterwards he recalled feeling very tired but also "hyped up".

When Caroline Goodwin, prosecuting, asked why, he replied: "The atmosphere, having sex for the first time, sneaking around in the dark, being in a woman's tent with her husband 20 metres away, it was a mess of confusing feelings.

"It was a bit of a tumultuous night."

He added: "On the one hand, I was happy with my little self that I managed to lose my virginity before I was 16, which seemed really important at the time.

"On the other hand, everything was over so quickly. It should have been a bit more interesting than that.

"It was a bit of a confusing mix of emotions as I left the tent."

The next day the complainant said Lakey told him someone had seen him getting in her tent, so nothing more happened during the trip.

But they continued to have sex at her home, in the marital bed, when her husband was away, he told the court.

On one occasion he said Lakey's mother was knocking on the door and his friend, who was in the house with them, came running up the stairs to tell them.

Lakey was dressed in matching bra, pants and tights or stockings, he said.

He recalled, before losing his virginity, being at her house and having a tickling fight with her when they ended up on the same settee.

He was almost sure she started the game, the told the court.

"The wee little 15-year-old boy I was back then would never have had the nerve to start anything like that," he said.

He said Lakey was wearing a summer dress and fell off the settee, pulling him down on top of her.

He said after a moment, she asked: "What do you think about what just nearly happened?"

He told the jury: "I had no idea, I was a very naive 15-year-old at this point."

Earlier, the younger complainant's mother told the court how her son had "tears rolling down his face" when he told her about having sex with Lakey more than a decade later.

She recalled her son was in his mid-20s when he told her: "That cow took my virginity off me when I was 13."

His mother told the jury: "It was unreal, I thought I couldn't be hearing this."

She added: "I was just so shocked, I was totally horrified.

"That's my child. He was a child, not a young man, not an adult."

A former colleague remembered the complainant telling co-workers about having sex with a teacher when he was 14, and he described the anecdote as "lads' craic".

But when the complainant repeated the story to the colleague's wife some years later, it was told in a more serious, meaningful way, the witness said.

His wife also recalled the complainant telling her about what happened, and she remembered him crying. "He was a very damaged, vulnerable young man," she said.

The trial continues.