A TEACHER has been jailed for raping a pupil at his school.

Subir Chakravarty groomed the girl while he was an IT teacher at the Ratton School, in Eastbourne, inviting her to his then-home in the town where he raped her twice.

The 38-year-old, of Kenneth Road, Chadwell Heath, Havering, east London, denied the offences and accused his victim of being a liar and a fantasist.

But he was unanimously convicted by a jury following a trial at Hove Crown Court in July and yesterday he was jailed at the same court for ten years.

Sentencing, Judge Anthony Niblett stressed his victim was a child at the time of the rape, adding: "There was a significant degree of planning and a very clear abuse of trust."

The court heard how Chakravarty had handed his notice into Ratton School when he raped the girl in 2014.

He moved back to London within days and was working at a new school in east London by the time of his arrest.

Judge Niblett said he was sure Chakravarty "thought that he could get away with his sexual abuse by returning to London and getting away from Eastbourne".

The court heard how his victim suffers from post traumatic stress disorder and flashbacks and still felt "dirty" even though she knew it was not her fault.

She had come forward partly to make sure it did not happen to anyone else, the court heard.

Mr Chakravarty, who has no previous convictions and continues to deny the offences, was a popular teacher who was thought highly of at the school, the court heard.

Mitigating, Gerry Mohabir said: "In the ten years while he was teaching he helped hundreds of students achieve good grades, and there is no suggestion beforehand he was a cause for concern."

Huxley Knox-Macaulay, headteacher at Ratton School, said the crimes were "appalling" and said he was pleased the teacher had been held to account.

DC James Hookway, who led the case, praised the victim and said the school's handling of the case once allegations came to light had been "exemplary".

VICTIM ACCUSED OF BEING ‘FANTASIST AND LIAR’

SUBIR Chakravarty’s victim faced being presented as a liar and a fantasist in court as her abuser continued to deny his offences.

Judge Anthony Niblett said defence lawyer Gerry Mohabir had done “no more than his professional duty” in presenting the case according to his client’s instructions, but highlighted the uncertainty and anxiety it would have caused on top of her more than two-year-wait for the case to come to court.

Aimee Pepper, an independent sexual violence adviser at Brighton’s sexual violence charity Survivors’ Network, said she thought knowing they might be accused of lying did stop victims reporting abuse, and was something she tries to help victims prepare for.

She said: “We try to make people aware what their options are, to make them aware of the fact that the justice system is adversarial and will involve somebody questioning what they have said, and sometimes that might mean for example that they are accused of not telling the truth.

“We might tell them, it is not personal, every defence barrister has a job to do and it’s important that they do that well, otherwise there is a potential for a retrial.

“Sometimes young people get the opportunity to meet defence barristers beforehand just to put them at ease.

“They are also entitled to have a witness support worker.”

Special measures to protect victims and witnesses, such as screens, are available.

Ms Pepper added: “Barristers are warned quite strongly by judges if they do think the questioning is inappropriate, particularly with young people.”

  • Anyone who needs help can contact Survivors Network on 01273 203 380.