Science teacher jailed for sexual relationship with pupil he helped get good grades

Robert Hanna worked at a school in London

London teacher Hanna got a three-year-sentence (Metropolitan Police)

A former science teacher has been jailed for three years for being in a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old pupil.

Robert Hanna, who worked at a school in London, was convicted at Inner London Crown Court on six counts of sexual activity with a child whilst in a position of trust.

The 43-year-old has also been issued a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, preventing him from having any unsupervised contact with under-18s, and he will be on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

The court heard that he taught at a school in the borough of Southwark from 2015 until May 2019, when he was dismissed.

While teaching he began a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old pupil who he helped achieve good grades in physics, police said.

At a school prom he invited some pupils to meet up with him later and he bought alcohol.

He then began a sexual relationship lasting four months with the victim.

She told Hanna that she wanted the relationship to end but he persuaded her to meet with him one more time before breaking up with her.

On Monday 1 April 2019, she told another teacher what had been happening and the school immediately suspended Hanna and told the police.

He was interviewed by officers the next day and he denied the victim's account.

A subsequent investigation found hotel check-in and check-out confirmation, bank statements and mobile phone evidence that supported the account given by the victim.

He was charged in May 2020 and found guilty last month.

Detective Constable Erica Slater of the Metropolitan Police said: “This was a complex case where Hanna denied everything from the beginning and lied continuously throughout the case.

“However, the victim courageously remained steadfast in her evidence and following a thorough investigation his accounts were disproved.

“Today’s sentence highlights the severity of this case and I would encourage anyone who is a victim of or victim to sexual abuse in any context to contact police.

“We have specially trained officers to investigate as well as ensuring there is ongoing support provided to the victims.”