Ballet teacher 'seduced her pupil'

A SCOTTISH ballet teacher allegedly abducted a male pupil and had sex with him during a three-month affair.

Sarah Pirie, 27, who has choreographed stage shows across Britain and has appeared in TV soaps Hollyoaks and Waterloo Road, is accused of taking the boy, aged 15, to hotels where she seduced him.

Yesterday Pirie, who is originally from Leuchars, Fife, appeared before magistrates in Blackpool in relation to the claims.

She faces five charges of intentionally sexually touching the boy, who is training to be a ballet dancer and cannot be named for legal reasons.

Pirie, formerly a teacher at a dance school on the Fylde Coast, is alleged to have taken the teenager to hotels in Manchester for sex between March and June last year.

She is also charged with abducting the teenage pupil from Blackpool on one occasion in May.

Pirie, who is now living in Luxembourg, spoke only to confirm her name and address at the two-minute hearing.

Her lawyer, Trevor Colebourne, told the court his client would be pleading not guilty to all the charges.

The chairman of the bench granted Pirie bail to April 30 when her case will be committed to the higher court.

Pirie has starred in and choreographed various musicals and pantomimes across the country. She trained at the Hammond School in Chester.