28 May 2024 , 15:11
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A teacher arrested in Turkey for allegedly abusing a child is battling against extradition.
Rebecca Richardson, 53, is accused of sexually assaulting the youngster while teaching in Istanbul on January 22, 2019. She has since been arrested on a provisional warrant at the request of the Turkish government.
Richardson, of Worcestershire, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court for a case management hearing, speaking only to confirm her name and date of birth. Graeme Hall, representing Richardson, told the court the teacher had "at all stages engaged with the Turkish authorities, both while in Turkey and while back in the UK."
He continued: "In relation to the substance of the allegations, they are incredibly serious. Ms Richardson is a woman in her fifties, she had a lengthy teaching career before the allegations of over twenty years and worked in one school in particular for some seven years.
"There no convictions against her name, no allegations of any nature whatsoever. These allegations are as shocking as they are wholly baseless. The mother of the child who makes the allegations made far-reaching allegations including that Ms Richardson had abused other students in the school. None of the other students, when questioned, supported those allegations.." Mr Hall added: "Ms Richardson was never alone with the children and was constantly supported by teaching assistants."
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District Judge Daniel Sternberg said all this information was "for the Turkish court to be decided at trial." Richardson is subject to a strict daily curfew and has had her passport detained by the police. She has to report to a police station in Worcester every Saturday and is required to sleep each night at her home in Malvern, Worcestershire. She will face a full extradition hearing on 25 November.
The extradition proceedings will last for one day and a half and the judge will hear evidence from Richardson, a prison expert, a Turkish legal expert and a psychiatrist. District Judge Sternberg told Richardson: "I am going to grant you bail on the same conditions as before. You are back in this court for extradition proceedings, which will begin on 25 November." Richardson remains on bail.