Eleanor Wilson was in an fractious relationship with her boyfriend and believed he was the father not the schoolboy, Bristol Crown Court has heard

A physics teacher accused of sleeping with a 16-year-old pupil was in an 'extremely dysfunctional relationship' with her on-off boyfriend and believed he was the father of her child, a jury was told today.

Eleanor Wilson's friend from the University of York, Alex Knight, came forward as a character witness after reading about her trial at Bristol Crown Court.

Mr Knight said he met Wilson's former boyfriend Andrew Hall several times while studying and claimed they rowed often and after one she appeared 'terrified'.

He told the jury: 'There were lots of arguments. I would also see him, after a night out, coming home and shouting at her in a fit of rage telling her she was stupid and worthless.

'I felt very uncomfortable and felt a lot of time at university feeling for Ellie. She was like the sister I didn't have, she was like the younger sister everyone cared for'.

On one occasion he said his friend had finger marks on her arm and a red mark on her face when he found her crying in her student room and they decided to lock the doors and window in case he returned, the court heard.

He said he later saw police at his student home and assumed they were investigating an incident involving Wilson and Mr Hall.

Mr Knight, who said he hadn't spoken to Wilson since late 2016 or early 2017, said that she had also confided in him that she was pregnant.

On what he described as 'the weirdest shopping trip ever', they went out to buy two pregnancy tests, some beers and some biscuits.

Wilson has said she felt isolated in her relationship with Mr Hall, whom she claims told her, 'You'd better not be pregnant – sort that out'.

Wilson is accused of having unprotected intercourse with the teenager on the British Airways flight home from a school trip to Swaziland, southern Africa

The prosecution claims she had unprotected sex which led to her becoming pregnant with the schoolboy's child - leading her to arrange an abortion behind her then-boyfriend's back.

Mr Hall says he couldn't have been the father because their sex life 'couldn't have been any worse' at the time.

Wilson has denied having sex with a student in the toilets of a plane as they returned from a school trip.

During her defence last week she rejected accusations she was bored with her own boyfriend and had a crush on the 'good looking young lad'.

Bristol Crown Court heard the pair also regularly exchanged text messages, including wishing each other happy new year and a happy Valentine's Day.

Wilson is on trial accused of having sexual intercourse with the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, on a British Airways flight home from an overseas camping trip in August 2015.

Eleanor Wilson has said she was wearing size 10 hiking boots and black jeans - making it 'impossible' to have sex on the plane

It is alleged the teacher, then aged 26, kissed and cuddled the boy before 'beckoning' him into the toilet where they had sex.

She is also accused of seeing the boy outside of school where they allegedly kissed and cuddled on three separate occasions.

Giving evidence for a second day, Wilson said she discussed with the boy being pregnant and having an abortion as her then partner of eight years, Andrew Hall, was violent and controlling and was not ready to start a family with her.

'I wanted to conceal it because he would have beaten it out of me. You don't know what he's like,' she said.

The defendant, who is an able seaman in the Royal Navy Reserve, conceded it had been 'inappropriate' to tell the boy she was pregnant, but added: 'I didn't have anyone else and I wanted someone to feel sorry for me.'

Virginia Cornwall, prosecuting, suggested Wilson's relationship with Mr Hall had become 'dull' as there was a lack of intimacy and not a lot of sex.

'You were bored with your life and [the boy] you had noticed before the trip. He was a good looking young lad? Did he remind you of Andy when you got together aged 17?,' she asked.

Miss Cornwall suggested Wilson had drunk more than a 125ml glass of wine and a gin and tonic on the flight home.

'You became aroused because your inhibitions had been loosened because you had been drinking? You fancied him?,' she asked.

Wilson replied: 'I don't and still don't.'

She said she thought the boy 'cared' about her - but described him as 'so desperate that he made the baby his [in his mind] - but it has nothing to do with him'.

She said the baby was conceived just before the trip to Africa, when she and ex-partner Andy Hall woke in the night and had sex.

Wilson admitted her days out with the boy to Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire, and Ashton Court Estate, Bristol, were against school policy and that she didn't tell anybody about them because she was 'ashamed and afraid of losing my job'.

Wilson, who denies all charges, was a respected teacher and head of Key Stage Four at a secondary school in Bristol which cannot be named for legal reasons.

Anna Midgley, defending, asked Wilson why she told the boy she was pregnant.

Wilson agreed it had been 'inappropriate to tell him'. She added: 'My guard was down and I was upset. I wanted someone else to understand how I was feeling.'

She told how she felt isolated in her relationship with Mr Hall, saying he made a cruel remark after commenting that her breasts seemed to be getting bigger a month after the flight.

The teacher told the court: 'He said, 'You better not be pregnant - sort that out'.'

She added: 'When we first moved to Bristol, a friend had just had a baby and I asked what would happen if we had a baby.

'Andy scathingly said I 'would find myself having tripped down to the bottom of the stairs' and said he'd use a 'coat hanger to remove it'.'

This afternoon the jury retired to consider their verdicts.

Judge Peter Blair QC, The Recorder of Bristol, told the jury of six men and six women they should strive to reach unanimous verdicts.

'The prosecution case has brought the case to this court so the prosecution have the burden of proving the case.

'The defendant does not have to prove or disprove anything,' the judge said.

'Something is proven as fact by the prosecution if, and only if, you are sure about it with all the evidence you have heard on that topic.

'Examine the evidence on each charge in turn and decide whether that charge has been proven by the prosecution.'

Wilson, of Dursley, Gloucestershire, denies four charges of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust. The trial continues.