Kandice Barber case: Jury discharged in 'sex with pupil' trial

Kandice Barber denies child sex offences

A jury in the trial of a teaching assistant accused of having sex with a 15-year-old boy has been discharged.

Kandice Barber, 35, of Wendover, Buckinghamshire, has been convicted at Aylesbury Crown Court of sending topless photos of herself to the pupil.

But the jury were unable to reach verdicts on three more serious charges of causing or inciting a child aged under 16 to engage in a sexual act.

A retrial has been scheduled for 18 January.

Aylesbury Crown Court heard Kandice Barber suffered an ectopic pregnancy

Barber was found guilty by a majority of 10 to two of one count of sexual communication with a child and one count of causing a child to watch a sexual act by a person in a position of trust.

She was acquitted of one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activities while in a position of trust.

The jury of seven women and five men delivered their verdicts after deliberating for more than 10 hours.

During a two-week trial, jurors heard that the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, claimed the mother-of-three had told him she was pregnant with his child.

But the defendant said she had "good intentions" when she gave her number to the teenager, despite staff at Princes Risborough School in Buckinghamshire being banned from contacting pupils outside school without the head's permission.

Prosecutor Richard Milne said Barber had approached the boy at a sports presentation in September 2018, and took his phone before adding herself to his Snapchat.

In his evidence to jurors, the boy said Barber messaged him after school in October 2018 to say she was dropping off her son and wanted to meet him, before she picked him up in her car and they had sex in a field.

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