A former science teacher has been jailed for three years for having a four-month sexual relationship with a pupil.

The Metropolitan Police said Robert Hanna, 43, was sentenced in a hearing at Inner London Crown Court on Tuesday.

He had previously been found guilty of six counts of sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust following a trial at the same court last month.

The court heard that Hanna had a relationship with a 16-year-old female pupil at a school in Southwark, south London, where he worked between 2015 and 2019.

Hanna, of Southwark, had helped her achieve good grades in physics and then asked her to meet with him along with a group of girls during a school prom, bringing alcohol with him.

He then began a sexual relationship with the girl which lasted for four months.

The court was told the victim wanted to end the relationship but Hanna persuaded her to meet him a final time, where he broke up with her.

She told another teacher about the relationship in April 2019, prompting an investigation, and Hanna was suspended and eventually dismissed a month later.

He had denied the charges but the investigation discovered evidence of the relationship including hotel check-in and check-out confirmation, bank statements and phone records.

Detective Constable Erica Slater, from Central South Command, 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… 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.”

Hanna was issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order preventing him from unsupervised contact with anyone under 18, and he will be on the Sex Offenders Register for life.