A Bradford teacher who took a 16-year-old pupil's virginity after grooming her on the internet was today jailed for 21 months.

Jonathan Firth, 33, sent the girl naked photos of himself through the Snap Chat site before having sex with her at his home, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Firth, of Overdale Drive, Thackley, stood impassively in the dock with his hands behind his back as Judge Jonathan Rose told him it was a "wholly inappropriate and unlawful relationship."

Firth pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to three offences of sexual activity by a person in a position of trust and one of causing a child to engage in sexual activity by a person in a position of trust.

The court heard today that the offences took place between October 1 and November 30 last year.

The girl, now 17, and the Bradford school cannot be named for legal reasons.

Firth, wearing a white shirt and dark tie, stood impassively in the dock with his arms behind his back, as he was jailed by Judge Rose who told him: "She was a child. You were considerably older than her; a man of education, intelligence and training, perfectly aware of how inappropriate the relationship was.

"This was not merely an abuse of trust, but taking advantage of the thrall in which you were held by this child."

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