A teacher's forbidden love for a 15-year-old pupil landed him behind bars yesterday despite impassioned pleas for mercy from those who knew him.
Eastern Court magistrate Garry Tallentire, who sentenced the 25-year-old to seven months in prison for indecent assault, said the case was 'one of the saddest and most difficult cases I have had to consider in a long time'.
'I have to balance the interest of you as a decent, responsible human being against the enormity of the offence committed,' Mr Tallentire said.
The teacher - whom police found fondling the girl in a parked car in Siu Sai Wan on September 8 - was convicted of indecently assaulting a girl under 16 after having earlier admitted the charge.
The pair had fallen in love and had carried on a close, six-month relationship before being discovered, the court heard.
The teacher's barrister, Michael Gerber, said the couple had a 'socially disapproved relationship' but that the man had not used his position to seduce the girl.
