Married teacher jailed for sex with schoolboy

A MARRIED primary schoolteacher was jailed for 15 months yesterday after admitting having sex with an underage teenage boy.

Hannah Grice pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two counts of indecent assault on the youngster, aged 14 and 15 at the time.

Sentencing her at Stafford Crown Court, Judge John Shand told the 32-year-old she abused her position.

“Cases such as this are, of course, made worse by the fact that you were a member of the teaching profession,” he told Grice.

She was also ordered to register as a sex offender.

Simon Rippon, prosecuting, told the court Grice’s relationship with the youth grew after he developed a “schoolboy crush” on her in March 2003.

They progressed from kissing to full sex at the home she shared with her husband and their two daughters in the Staffordshire town of Cannock.

The relationship eventually became public, confirming “widely held suspicions”, and the defendant was arrested. Grice initially denied having sex with the youngster, who cannot be named because of his age.

Stephen Bayley, defending, said Grice was sorry for her behaviour.

“She must have at the time felt alone, perhaps somewhat abandoned and in need of some external support,” he said.

“Her error, a deep error, was to seek that support in an entirely inappropriate place.”

Grice’s husband and family said they stood by her.