Jobless Glyn Trowbridge to wed schoolgirl lover

JOBLESS grandad Glyn Trowbridge and his runaway schoolgirl lover emerged from hiding last night to declare: "We are in love-and we ARE going to get married."

Gap-toothed Trowbridge, 45, and pretty 16-year-old Lisa Wright disappeared together as details of their bizarre relationship hit the headlines, sickening every parent in Britain.

But the odd couple have now broken their silence on their "forbidden love" in an exclusive interview with the News of the World.

And the defiant teenager-whose frantic mum called in police after Lisa took off four weeks ago- insisted: "I find everything attractive about Glyn. We've no money so there's no presents, but that wouldn't bother me anyway. He's always there for me."

Then in words that will horrify her worried mum, Lisa revealed: "We have sex up to four times a day. And it's me who usually asks Glyn.

"I can't keep my hands off him. We're using condoms but I want to go on the Pill soon."

In a string of astonishing statements, penniless, twice-married Glyn desperately tried to defend what he's done but confessed he:

CANNOT support Lisa and is dependent on emergency benefits.

SMOKED cannabis in the past and drank a bottle of brandy a DAY.

PLANS to buy Lisa a £400 engagement ring, despite being broke, and whisk her to a Barbados wedding.

SHARES little in common with her apart from a disturbing history of mental trauma.

WANTS to prove his love by having a tattoo of her name-to replace the one he had done in tribute to his second wife four months ago!

News of the scandal broke after Lisa vanished in her school uniform and failed to turn up for classes, just weeks before her GCSE exams.

Frantic mum Angela, 45, called the cops, put up posters and pleaded for her daughter to come home.

But it soon emerged she was holed up with friend of the family Glyn, who has SIX children and FOUR grandkids.

It was there, in his grubby one-bedroomed flat, above a row of Dagenham shops in the borderlands between East London and Essex, that the odd couple first had sex.

As they spoke to us, doe-eyed young Lisa hugged Glyn constantly, mouthing the words "I love you" over and again.

Glyn is fully aware of the universal outrage and condemnation raining down on him. But he insists the relationship will last.

Speaking with a lisp, caused by having two front teeth knocked out in a dust-up with estranged wife Sharon, he claimed: "I'm not some dirty old man corrupting a young girl.

"She's got her own mind and we're in love.

"We've tried to explain the situation but people just call it sick and disgusting. But I don't look at Lisa and see a 16-year-old. I see a woman.

"When I first saw Lisa it was an instant attraction -like a thunderbolt hit me."

Bizarrely, despite knowing Lisa's family well-he went to school with her mum and his son fathered a baby with Lisa's sister-Glyn claims he had "no idea" how young she was when they met.

He was visiting newborn granddaughter Frankie at the Wrights' home when Lisa says SHE made the first move, kissing Glyn as they smoked in the garden. That led to secret dates at his flat.

"I didn't realise she was 16," said Glyn, "Then one day she told me she had school next day and it clicked. I just held my head in my hands. I thought, 'This can't happen.' I did step back a bit, but you can't help how you feel. I was smitten."

Lisa, who once tried to kill herself over problems at school, says she was instantly drawn to Glyn too.

She gushed: "I love everything about him. Even the gap in his teeth. I sometimes push my tongue through it when we kiss. I like running my hands through his hair, I like his eyes. He has these funny little ears with pointy ends. I like it when he grows a bit of stubble and it's a bit rough."

Then, with the naive honesty of a child, Lisa added: "I just love him. He looks after me. He makes me dinner. He sucks my big toe, runs my baths, makes me breakfast, moisturises my legs, brushes my hair and even dyes it. If I need anyone to talk to, he's there."

With no hint of regret, the pair spoke openly in their astonishing interview of the first time they had sex, although Lisa admitted she lost her virginity two years ago with an 18-year-old boyfriend.

Glyn-whose name is really Nigel-said: "We're very sexually compatible and have a very passionate relationship. There's no stopping us. That first time wasn't planned, I'm quite a shy person really. But it was really intense."

Lisa added: "It was quite romantic really. We couldn't have any of the lights on in case anyone saw and realised we were in the flat, so we just had this one candle burning.

"It didn't feel awkward or anything. This isn't a case of Glyn taking advantage of me. I know exactly what I'm doing. I knew how old Glyn was and it didn't bother me.

"Mentally, I'm not a 16-year-old and I don't really get along with people my own age. I've never gone out with anyone younger than me.

"But Glyn's far more mature than any of the boys I've been out with."

He may be mature but he's out of work, after quitting a job in a recycling plant complaining the dust affected his lungs. He gets £65-a-week housing allowance but his £60 jobseeker's allowance was stopped for allegedly missing appointments. He hopes to get £120 backdated but meanwhile relies on an £80 crisis benefits loan to buy food.

In the search for Lisa, cops raided Glyn's flat and found her love notes, perfume and clothes. The pair had fled to a friend's place in Essex, but when officers quizzed them they were satisfied Lisa left home of her own free will and said they could do no more.

Not surprisingly, her separated parents, forklift driver David and dental nurse Angela, are appalled. Lisa said: "Dad and I have never been close. But I do see him."He was really angry when he heard about Glyn and asked me if I was looking for a father figure. Just to shut him him up I said yes. Although it wasn't true he seemed happy with that.

"But a week after I left home he sent me a text which said, 'At least you had the courage to phone your mum. She was reduced to a wreck and I don't think she'll ever get over what's happened. Make sure you keep in contact with her. Me? I just think you are a ****. Goodbye.'

"That wasn't very nice. I hope one day he understands. Mum told me she doesn't hate me and I can come back to live at Glyn's flat if I want. But I don't know if I believe it."

Glyn has been married to estranged wife Sharon, 42, for 10 years and they have five children aged 13 to 24- although he admits to having another daughter of 24, now a mum of two, from a fling with a woman whose name he can't recall.

Sharon described Glyn as an "alcoholic schizophrenic" and begged him to take Lisa back home.

But Glyn insisted: "That's just ridiculous. I used to drink- I've suffered with depression and I drank while my marriage was falling apart I used to drink a bottle of brandy, not every day-I couldn't afford to. And years ago I smoked cannabis. I do drink lager-when I can get six for a fiver. But I can go a couple of weeks without a drink.

"Then I might go on a session. I'm in no way an alcoholic-or a schizophrenic. I get angry just like other people but I'm not a violent man."

But then he adds: "Sharon and I had punch-ups, I'm not denying it. But if I was going to punch her properly, I'd have broken her jaw, and there's no physical scars on that woman at all.

"She's hit me, I've hit her. But I've never just attacked her. My teeth were knocked out during one argument. I can't even remember what it was about. It was just so ridiculous.

"I'd never hurt a hair on Lisa's head-ever. Yes, me and my boys have had our fights. They can look after themselves. I won't have them talking to their mum like cr*p."

Glyn, who says at 11 years old he saw his dad hang himself, had Sharon's name tattooed on his right arm just four months ago after she told him she had another man.

"I don't know why I did it," he said. "It was a moment of madness. I was feeling very depressed and confused. I regret it now and am going to have it removed as soon as possible and get one with Lisa's name."

Lisa revealed she too has suffered depression and tried to kill herself when she was 11 and bullied at school. She said: "I ended up in hospital after an overdose and cutting my wrists with razor blades."

Meanwhile, her heartbroken mum is still desperate for her to come home and resume her education. Angela, 45, said: "She's thrown her future away for this man. I've no idea what she sees in him. He's no Brad Pitt."

Despite describing themselves as soulmates, it's clear the couple have little in common.

Lisa said: "To be honest I like the music you'd think Glyn should prefer- David Bowie, Pink Floyd and Status Quo. But he likes Oasis, Will Young and Boyzone." Glyn said: "On TV I like sci-fi and action films. But Lisa's not too keen. Lisa loves watching Friends but I don't like that American humour."

Lisa and Glyn are already thinking about marriage. Glyn said: "We've talked of flying to Barbados to do it. As soon as she's 18 we'll do it. I've seen a £400 engagement ring at a jeweller's in Dagenham so I'll have to start saving and get a job.

"In my heart I know what we're doing is seen as wrong. If I wasn't going through this I wouldn't be too happy if MY teenage daughter was with a man of 45. But for me it's right. I'm going to lose friends but I'm prepared to lose everything.

"We get funny stares when we walk down the street holding hands, but we can deal with all that. I'm fed up with running."