Former science teacher jailed for sexual relationship with a 16-year-old student

A science teacher from Southwark has been jailed after having a sexual relationship with a student for four months.

Robert Hanna, 43, appeared at Inner London Crown Court on Tuesday, November 23 where he was sentenced to three years in prison for six counts of sexual activity with a child whilst in a position of trust.

The court heard how Hanna was a teacher at a school in Southwark from 2015 until May 2019 when he was dismissed.

During this time he began having a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old pupil whom he helped to achieve good grades.

During a school event he asked a group of pupils to meet up with him. He then bought alcohol and met with a few of the girls.

A sexual relationship began with the victim over a four-month period. 

The victim told Hanna that she wanted the relationship to end but he persuaded her to meet with him one more time, when he broke up with her.

In April 2019 the victim informed a teacher of what had been happening and the school immediately suspended him. 

Police were alerted and an investigation began, led by specialist officers from Central South Child Abuse Investigation Team.

Officers interviewed him the following day and he denied being in a sexual relationship with the victim. 

But the investigation found hotel check in and check out confirmation, bank statements and phone download evidence that corroborated the account given by the victim.

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 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.”

Hanna had previously been found guilty following a trial at the same court on Tuesday, October 19, following a 12-day trial. 

He has also been issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, preventing him from having any unsupervised contact with people under 18 and he will be subject to the Sex Offenders Register for life.