When a 30-year old man sleeps with a 15-year-old girl there should always been deep concern. The case of teacher Jeremy Forrest who began an illegal affair with one of his pupils before running away with her to France gripped the nation this month.

Forrest was, quite rightly in my view, jailed for his crimes, which included having a relationship with a pupil, something a teacher should never do. The breaking of the code of trust between parents and those teaching their children and the abuse of power by a teacher over someone in their care should always be punished.

Forrest also broke the laws of underage sex – technically not paedophilia which refers to young children and babies – which is a greyer area. I fully understand that I am straying into controversial territory here and need to state quite quickly that I believe the age of consent in this country is rightly set at 16 and an adult having sex with someone under that age, even at 15-years-of-age, is breaking the law and should face the penalties. This is not the case in other countries however. The legal age of consent in France is 15, hence why initially the authorities there took no action to track down the pair. It is the same in Denmark, Greece and Poland. In Austria, Italy and Germany, the legal age is actually 14. But none of this matters. The age of consent agreed upon by the British people is 16 and there is where the law lies.

For that reason you might be as surprised as I was when this week Hampshire Police confirmed they would be taking no action against an adult in their twenties who it is reported enticed a 15-year-old ‘child’ away to a secluded spot, offered them alcohol and cigarettes, suggested using cocaine and then had sex with them. Would we expect the authorities, when made aware, to take action?

What if the adult, having instigated the liaison, then tells police they were sexually abused by the child? That the child is then arrested and questioned by the police, who after being told the sex was consensual take no further action against the 15-year-old. Would we expect the police to then charge the adult with at least underage sex with a minor, but also perverting the course of justice by making a false accusation of, in this case, rape?

I think we would want to know why the police might decide to take no action what so ever against the adult concerned.

This was the case this week when Hampshire Police confirmed they would be taking no action against a woman in her twenties who enticed a 15-year-old boy to a secluded spot with offers of drugs, alcohol and cigarettes, had sex and then saw him arrested on allegations of rape, allegations the police could find no basis in fact for.

The question is why? Would I be wrong if I asked whether if this had been a man in his twenties and a girl of 15 that the reaction of the police and the eventual outcome – at least placing the matter before the courts to decide – would have been very different? The boy’s mother is rather upset. I can’t blame her. We have every right in this country to set the age of consent at whatever level we wish. But having done so we should strive to be even-handed in applying the law.