A DISGRACED TEACHER and his ex-pupil have ended their seven year relationship together.
John Forrester sacrificed his £30,000 per year post in 2005 when he began a relationship with Claire Bennett, who was then 16.
The 50-year-old was head of music at Kincorth Academy in Aberdeen when the relationship blossomed.
John and Claire Forrester have split after their seven-year-relationship
But after seven years together, the controversial couple have now split.
At her home yesterday, Mrs Forrester confirmed they were no longer together – and that the former teacher had moved out.
The 24-year-old said they were “not on good terms.”
It is thought Mr Forrester has been staying in a nearby property for the past two weeks, once owned Claire’s grandmother.
And yesterday he was seen picking up his son from the family home and taking him to school.
The former teacher made headlines yesterday when it was revealed he became secretary of the local parent-teacher council atAuchenblaePrimary Schoolafter being voted in by parents.
Forrester will even get to choose staff at the tiny Aberdeenshire school.
Two days ago a source said: “He has a brass neck. The last time he was involved with a school, he betrayed everyone’s trust. He doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong but some people are a bit uneasy about him having a position of power at the school.”
Mr and Mrs Forrester’s relationship erupted into a scandal when it was revealed in 2005.
The teacher, who was 44 at the time, had already been investigated over an alleged relationship with another teenage pupil while still married to his first wife.
He was cleared of the allegations and returned to his post under supervision.
But when Claire joined his choir class later that year, they started to text each other.
Their relationship blossomed after a trip to London but the couple claimed they did not start a sexual relationship until Claire turned 16.
Forrester resigned from his job and Claire ran away from her family home to move in with him.
Officials at Aberdeen City Council reported Mr Forrester to police and he was charged under the Sexual Offences Act.
But the Crown Office decided it wasn’t in the “public interest” to prosecute him.
Despite escaping prosecution, Forrester was struck off the teaching register for his relationship in June 2006.
At a disciplinary hearing at the General Teaching Council of Scotland announced that Mr Forrester should be banned from teaching following the revelation.
They then married in 2010 at Ferry hill Parish Church in Aberdeen and settled in the Mearns village of Auchenblae with their two children, Erin, six, and Andrew, four.
Mrs Forrester’s mother Shelagh Douglas disapproved of the relationship from the start, saying her daughter had “a lot of growing up to do.”
“I don’t care if my daughter and John are still together in 20 years time, I have never accepted the relationship and never will,” she said.
They said they maintained their relationship, despite living in a disapproving community, because they loved each other.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy and it hasn’t,” Mr Forrester told a TV documentary in 2005.
Mr Forrester could not be contacted for comment.
