The trial of a former headteacher of an all-girls’ Catholic school in Southampton, accused of kissing a pupil, has ended with a hung jury.
James Rouse, 49, was charged with sexual activity with a child under 18 while in a position of trust.
The alleged offence happened in 2006 while he was a science teacher at St Anne’s Catholic School in Southampton.
He was later appointed headteacher in 2017.
Rouse, of Lowford Hill Close, Bursledon, has been on trial at Portsmouth Crown Court since November 4 after he denied the charge earlier this year.
However, the jury has been unable to reach a verdict, and there will now be a hearing to decide if there will be a retrial.
Jurors were told by Rouse that he viewed the complainant “as a friend” after the pair formed a friendship in 2006, while she was a GCSE student.
It was alleged that the pair met in a field near her house and shared a “passionate kiss” in the spring of that year after speaking via their personal emails and then on the instant messaging platform MSN Messenger.
Joanna Hardy-Susskind, mitigating, set out the defence that whilst Rouse accepted he formed an “inappropriate friendship” with the complainant, and the kiss at the time had been on the cheek.
Ms Hardy-Susskind said: “He accepts they went on to have a consensual, adult, sexual relationship once she had turned 18. That is not illegal.”
Giving evidence, Rouse said: “There was a hug and a brief peck on the cheek from me to her, and her to me, and then we went our separate ways. We hugged each other.
“I viewed that kiss as two friends saying goodbye. It was not a romantic moment.”
Prosecutor Christopher Hewertson said Rouse initially denied a sexual attraction towards the complainant in his first police interview in 2023.
“In his first police interview under caution, Rouse described it as an ‘inappropriate friendship’ and denied a sexual attraction to her”, Mr Hewertson said.
“He clearly was attracted to her”.
Mr Hewertson also read poems written by the defendant to the complainant, and in his police interview, he described the kiss as a “moment of madness”.
The hearing to determine whether there will be a retrial is scheduled for December 4 at Portsmouth Crown Court.
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