Court case against ex-head over pupil kiss discontinued

Court proceedings against a former head teacher over alleged sexual activity with a pupil have been discontinued.

James Rouse, 49, of Lowford Hill Close in Bursledon, Hampshire, was accused of kissing the girl before October 2006 while he was a physics teacher.

The case was part of a wider police investigation into allegations of historical sexual abuse at St Anne's Catholic School and Sixth Form College in Southampton, where Mr Rouse was headteacher from 2017.

A trial in November 2025 at Portsmouth Crown Court resulted in a hung jury. A retrial was scheduled to start on Monday but at a hearing at the same court earlier no further evidence on the case was offered.

Mr Rouse previously denied a charge of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.

The wider police investigation into the Southampton school began in 2023, the court previously heard.

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