If only we'd had tennis coaches like this in my day

cymrococh · October 3, 2007

http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2181442,00.html

A top tennis coach accused of having an affair with a 13-year-old she was teaching appeared in court yesterday on five charges of unlawful sexual activity with a child.

Claire Lyte, 29, is a former Wimbledon competitor who, following an injury, became a coach at the Lawn Tennis Association's training academy in Leicestershire in 2004. She coached the girl, who was not named, at the academy, but denies the offences alleged to have occurred between May 2005 and June last year.

Peter Davies, prosecuting, told Liverpool crown court the girl's mother had found her in bed with Lyte in October 2005. In her later police interview, the girl told how Lyte had driven her to her home from a tournament; after a shower, the girl said, she found Lyte in her bedroom. Asked by the officer if Lyte knew what they were doing was wrong, the child replied: "Yeah. I was scared of saying anything. Tennis wasn't working out and I was scared of what would happen if I said something."

The mother had a row with Lyte, said Mr Davies, but did not report the incident because of her daughter's strong feelings for the coach and "in order to allow [her] to continue her tennis career". He told the court that the coach made trips to watch the girl in tournaments and "they would often stay in the same hotel room". When police searched Lyte's flat in Shirley in Solihull, West Midlands, they found underwear belonging to the teenager.

Lyte is alleged to have told the mother her daughter had played tennis very badly and questioned whether she had enough commitment for a career. The mother went to the police in 2006.

Mr Davies said: "The relationship between coach and student transcended the bounds of a normal relationship. And despite repeated warnings [by the academy] the defendant continued. The crown says the defendant was attracted to the victim and attraction became mutual."

The trial continues.

Andy Mac · October 3, 2007

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