Lesbian coach forced me into sex, girl tells court

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An award winning tennis coach threatened to wreck the career of a promising 13 year old pupil unless she continued to have sex with her, Liverpool Crown Court heard today.

Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) coach Claire Lyte, 29, denies five counts of unlawful sexual activity with a child, and claims the allegations have been made up by the girl’s mother.

But the alleged victim says her coach threatened to throw her out of the Loughborough LTA academy if she revealed the affair to anyone.

“I never wanted to do any of it,” the girl told the court via video-link.

“She told me what to do. She said if I was to say anything to anybody she would hurt me and she would stop my tennis completely and would tell the academy to get rid of me.”

“Claire used to threaten me. She used to say if I said anything she’d hurt me. She said my tennis would stop.

“Every time something happened I never wanted it to. I felt under pressure.”

But the defence leapt on the idea that the two shared accommodation up to a year after the girl’s mother caught them having sex in the student’s bedroom.

Cross-examining the girl yesterday, David Mason said: “”If it is true that you were caught by your mother having sex with the defendant, it must have been a blessed relief.

“But you didn’t tell anybody. You carried on, didn’t you?”

The court was told that the girl’s mother refrained from contacting the police after finding the couple together because she was worried it may have a negative effect on her daughter’s tennis career.

The defence then referred to seemingly romantic texts sent to the coach from her pupil.

One said: “I fucking love you so much. All I want is to be with you for the rest of my life.”

The girl said she was forced to send the texts.

“Claire told me to send her loving text messages,” she said.

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“I didn’t want to.”

Mr Mason told her: “You were infatuated. Your mum’s got you to make this up, hasn’t she?”

The girl said: “No. It’s true.”

The case continues.

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