London - A teacher seduced a pupil he had invited to his home despite knowing she had a teenage crush on him, a court has been told.
Andrew Berry, 47, asked the infatuated girl to tutor his daughter in maths at his flat and then embarked on a year-long relationship with her after she made a pass at him and kissed him.
They would meet up for sex but were found out when the girl called off the relationship and a schoolfriend told her father.
Berry, the divorced father of two teenage children, stormed round to her house and banged on the door with his fists.
Police were called and he was arrested and later charged with two counts of having sexual activity with someone while in a position of trust.
Berry, who was head of the English department at Cardinal Newman Catholic school in Hove, East Sussex, pleaded guilty and wept as he was handed an eight-month sentence for each offence, suspended for two years.
The girl was 14 when she developed her crush on Berry but he first had sex with her when she was 17.
Lewes Crown Court heard that although the relationship between the pair was consensual it was illegal because he was a teacher at the girl’s school and was therefore in a position of trust.
Judge Guy Anthony told Berry, from Brighton: ‘This case represents a tragedy for you and for her.’
The court heard that the teacher met and had sex with the pupil at least 15 times between July 2014 and June 2015.
Tim Forster, prosecuting, said Berry, a teacher at the school for 23 years, had first taught the girl when she was 12. He said: ‘When she was 14 she developed a teenage crush on him and she would speak to him at break time and in the corridors around the school. He invited her to tutor his own daughter in maths and invited her round to his flat.
‘It was an unwise thing to have done knowing that she had a crush on him. During the school holidays she kissed him and the relationship became sexual shortly after that.’
Forster said the pair would meet at Berry’s flat on a Wednesday and Saturday and would have sex. The girl ended the relationship in June last year.
When it was uncovered Berry was immediately suspended from the school. An investigation was launched and a team from education authority Ofsted was sent into the school amid safeguarding fears.
Last year Cardinal Newman faced criticism when it banned students from wearing coats because they posed a security threat. They brought in the ban in a week when temperatures plummeted below freezing.
The school said it had a strict uniform policy and wearing a coat inside could be a security risk as it would not be clear the person went to the school.
Daily Mail