BORDEAUX, France (Reuters) – A runaway British schoolgirl and her 30-year-old maths teacher were picked up by police in the southern French city of Bordeaux on Friday, after a week-long manhunt which gripped U.K. media, police sources said.
Teacher Jeremy Forrest was placed in French police custody on suspicion of child abduction after he was stopped on a city street with the 15-year-old girl, said the sources.
The girl is due to undergo a medical examination before being handed over to her parents, they said, without providing her name, in accordance with French law.
An emotional appeal by Megan Stammers’ parents for her return has dominated British television and newspaper headlines since the couple went missing.
Her stepfather Martin Stammers said on Twitter: “Thank you everyone for everything, massive relief and thrilled to bits, more to follow later.”
He was due to hold a news conference later on Friday.
A British police spokesman said they would interview Forrest, but declined to comment on the likelihood he would be charged.
British police secured a European arrest warrant for Forrest on Thursday.
Forrest faces no charges in France and can only be detained there for a maximum of 48 hours before a decision must be taken on his case.
(Reporting by Claude Canellas, additional reporting by Alessandra Prentice and Peter Griffiths; editing by Mark John and Jason Webb)
