AN ASSISTANT headmaster accused of having a sexual fling with a schoolboy yesterday told a jury the whole thing was a fantasy.

Adam Williams admitted sending messages online and by text to the pupil but said that was all they were.

He has claimed his actions were ordered by the boy who was blackmailing him.

Prosecutors have alleged that Williams and the teenager were involved in a sexual relationship and met secretly on a number of occasions and kissed and performed sex acts on each other.

Married Williams, aged 35, denies the allegations.

As he was placed under cross-examination about some of the thousands of text messages he exchanged with the boy, Williams said: “None of this is real.”

Prosecutor Christopher May quizzed him about a time when the boy claimed he and Williams kissed in the car at a Tesco and when the older man dropped him off later.

Williams said the boy had never gone with him that he had stopped at Tesco to send messages to colleagues thanking them after an “horrendous” day at school.

“I stopped at a convenient place so that I could have some time for reflection. Also so that I could text my friends for the support during the day,” he said.

Mr May reminded the defendant that the boy had sent a text saying: “It’s my sister’s birthday and I forgot to get anything for her. Can we go to a 24-hour Tesco?”

Mr May said: “Do you accept the idea of going there came from him?”

Williams replied: “I went there,” prompting the prosecutor to repeat the question, after which the defendant conceded the idea had come from the boy.

Mr May took the defendant through a series of messages implying an arrangement to meet and go to the Tesco store, followed by a gap.

Williams said that the gap was part of the fantasy, with them pretending they were together, after which the text messages resumed.

Williams replied: “I didn’t take him to Tesco. This is a scenario.

“It’s a conversation.

“The fantasy is that I was taking him in my car.”

Jurors at Oxford Crown Court heard that the pair met online via the website Grindr, on which the boy claimed to be a 20-year-old man.

Williams, of Ruardean Walk, Cheltenham, denies seven counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust and one of encouraging or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity while in a position of trust.

The hearing continues.