A TEACHER from Huddersfield who groomed and had sex with a male teenage pupil became his family’s friend and helped his brother gain a place at an independent school on reduced fees, a jury heard.

Peter Smith, 38, of Pilling Lane in Scissett, started to invite the boy into his office at a grammar school when he was 15 years old, groping him and kissing him, Leeds Crown Court heard yesterday.

Once the boy turned 16, Smith, a father of two, began to regularly have sex with him in his office, in the bed he shared with his wife, and on a school trip, the jury was told.

While the relationship was consensual, Smith is accused of abusing his position of trust between December 2006 and June 2007 when he left his post at the school and moved away from the area.

During this time, Smith had become a friend of the boy’s family and when he returned to work at another West Yorkshire independent school in 2008, he allegedly helped the teenager’s younger brother get a place on reduced fees.

Smith’s relationship with the teenager continued until September 2010. He denied engaging in sexual activity with the boy while he was his teacher.