Husband of teacher, 35, accused of having sex with pupil, 15, says 'we were trying for baby at the time'

THE husband of a teacher accused of having sex with a schoolboy said he and his wife were trying for a baby at the time of the alleged offences, a court heard today.

Kandice Barber, 35, is on trial for alleged sexual romps with the 15-year-old, who was a pupil at the Buckinghamshire school where she worked at the time.

Daniel Barber and his wife, who have five children between them from previous relationships, told the court they began trying for a baby after the summer holidays in 2018.

She fell pregnant quickly in October, when she is alleged to have been having sex with the teen pupil, the court was told

Mr Barber said: "She gave me a box. It was a pregnancy test to confirm she was pregnant.” 

Sadly, the following month she suffered an ectopic pregnancy, Aylesbury Crown Court heard.

Mr Barber, who worked for the delivery firm DPD and then for Morrisons, denied that in September and October 2018 they were going through a bad patch.

Prosecutor Richard Milne read out Mr Barber's statement to police, in which he described being unhappy at work around the time of the alleged offences.

The statement read: "I was having a rough time at work, my new job at Morrisons was not going well, I was quite down.

"I felt frustrated, I'd come home deflated, whinge and moan to Kandice, she was very supportive and talked to me about work."

It continued: "My downer about work did not affect our relationship, it certainly did not cause us to argue."

When asked whether he knew at the time why his wife was being arrested in March 2019, he said: "She works in a school, I kind of guessed it, it wasn't hard."

Mr Barber was asked whether he spoke to his wife about why she was arrested when he picked her up from the police station, to which he replied: "There was so much that happened in the daytime, we were talking about it but it wasn't making any sense what we were talking about."

He added: "She said there were pictures and that there was communication between them, the boy and herself."

It's been claimed Kandice Barber met up for sex romps with the boy on three occasions in a field, woodland and in her 4×4 car.

Jurors heard how her mum Dawn Green told cops the teacher had admitted sending Snacpchat messages to the lad but denied any “intimacy”.

Nervous Mrs Green told Aylesbury Crown Court: "Kandice told me she had been arrested and it was something to do with a student at school. She did not go into any details, she told me it happened in October 2019.

Kandice confirmed there had been no intimacy but she had been Snapchatting him for a few weeks.

"Kandice confirmed there had been no intimacy but she had been Snapchatting him for a few weeks. She said ‘I know I have been silly mum’ and I agreed with her and told her she had been silly.

"I asked her to swear on her life nothing had happened and she did swear in her life."

Mrs Green said she had been “flabbergasted" when her daughter was arrested and understood it was something to do with a student harassing her.

When asked whether she had known that her daughter had topless pictures on her phone, she replied: "It would not surprise me, I have photographs of myself topless too."

On Wednesday the jury heard how on September 30 2018 she searched "what is the name of someone you are having an affair with?" and the word "alibi" before Googling seconds later "when you have a plan of where you have been."

The next day, the defendant is said to have searched "a lie of where you have been" before later looking up "good secluded areas," and "Holiday Inn, Wycombe."

In the witness box, Barber gave her explanation for her actions.

She said: "I was up at 5am as my mum and I were going to set up a car boot sale.

"On the way there was a name of a film that was bugging me,  so I Googled those words. We were trying to remember the film name.

"I thought the name had something to do with adultery but it turned out to be the film Fatal Attraction."

She added that she had Googled the hotel for her son’s father to stay in while he visited and "good secluded areas" was in relation to wanting to take her dog for a walk off the lead as he "absolutely loves lakes."

Judge Francis Sheridan said to Barber although the boy had called her three times, the majority of phone calls had been started by her.

She then replied: "A lot of the time I am calling because he has contacted me on Snapchat saying ‘call me, call me.’

Now I think he was clearly infatuated and obsessed with me.

"Now I think he was clearly infatuated and obsessed with me. For me it was all perfectly innocent conversation."

The court heard Barber had begged the boy to delete the messages between them following rumours that had floated around in school and at a meeting with the headteacher.

She said: "At one point I asked the boy to delete messages between us because I was concerned about losing my job.

"My eldest son had got wind of the rumours, he is the type of person who would ask to see my phone.”

Prosecutor Richard Milne questioned: "He has gone to all this trouble to create a fictitious relationship between the two of you. He has messaged himself to create this fantasy relationship with you?”

Barber, of Wendover, denies three counts of causing or inciting a child aged under 16 to engage in a sexual act and one count of sexual communication with a child.

She further denies one count of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activities while in a position of trust, and one count of causing a child to watch a sexual act by a person in a position of trust.

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