Hoddesdon teaching assistant who had sex with pupil jailed

A teaching assistant has been jailed for six years for having sex with a 14-year-old pupil in a supermarket car park.

The boy was a pupil at a school in Hoddesdon, in Hertfordshire, where Hannah Harris, now 23, worked.

She tricked his parents by claiming to be the mother of his fictional girlfriend, but was caught in 2020, St Albans Crown Court was told.

Judge Caroline Wigin told Harris her actions amounted to grooming.

Harris, from Harrier Mill, Henlow, in Bedfordshire, contacted the boy's parents at his suggestion, the court heard.

She claimed to be called Olivia and living with her daughter Kayla, who was their son's girlfriend.

In one text Harris wrote: "Seems Kayla and [the boy] are getting on well, so I am happy to ferry them around."

The victim admitted both Olivia and Kayla were fictitious after his older brother found out about the relationship in 2020.

"When the parents became aware, they realised they had unwittingly facilitated the contact," prosecutor Simon Wilshire said.

In a victim impact statement, the boy said Harris's defence case that he had raped her had "made him feel dirty", the court heard.

Judge Wigin said Harris had "disregarded" all the warnings about "inappropriate discussions with pupils".

She said: "You groomed him. You took him in your car for trips, took him to the supermarket, bought his favourite sweets, bought him ice cream and took him to McDonald's.

Defending, Julia Flanagan said: "She has expressed regret that she allowed the relationship to develop, met him outside school and deceived his parents."

Harris denied four charges of sexual activity with a child between December 2019 and January 2020.

She was found guilty by a jury of one count of having sex with the boy in a supermarket car park.

She was cleared of three other charges.

She must register as a sex offender for life and is banned from working with children.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]