A chemistry teacher sexually abused a "besotted" 14-year-old schoolboy up to 30 times in the late 1980s after comparing her own body to a naked model in a pornographic magazine, a court has heard. Sally-Anne Bowen, now 64, is on trial at Harrow Crown Court accused of exploiting her position of trust at a north London boys' comprehensive school to groom and abuse two pupils, both then aged 14 to 15, while working as a young teacher in her first job. Prosecutors say the case highlights how apparent willingness on the part of the boys did not amount to genuine consent given her authority as their teacher.

Bowen faces six counts of indecent assault relating to the first boy, with whom prosecutors allege she had sex "20 to 30 times", and two further counts relating to a second boy, whom she allegedly allowed to kiss her and touch her breasts during lunches at a nearby cafe between 1986 and 1988. Jurors heard she made the first boy feel "special", leading him to believe they were in a relationship, while the second boy told police the abuse began after Bowen took a pornographic magazine from pupils and pointed to a photograph, saying the woman's genitals resembled her own. Bowen denies all charges and claims a medical condition made sexual intercourse "impossible" for her at the time.