The Attorney General's office has confirmed this afternoon (Jan 15) it cannot review former Bexleyheath Academy teacher Stuart Kerner's case after his sentence for having sex with a pupil was criticised by many as “unduly lenient”.

Attorney General Jeremy Wright was to consider whether Kerner's suspended sentence, handed down yesterday (Jan 14), should be changed following his conviction for having an affair with a teenage student which first became sexual when the victim was 16.

However at around 12.45pm today the Attorney General’s office revealed the controversial case lay outside the scope of what it could review.

The Twitter account, @AGO_UK, tweeted: "We considered whether Stuart Kerner’s sentence could be referred to the court of appeal as part of the unduly lenient sentence scheme.

"However Mr Kerner’s crimes are not included in this scheme, meaning the law officers are unable to refer this

"It's important the public can challenge what they believe to be exceptionally low sentences.

"We have been looking at whether the scope of the current #ULS scheme is right."

Former vice-principal Kerner, 44, was given eight months for his first conviction for sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust and 10 for the second at Inner London Crown Court.

The Attorney General’s Twitter account tweeted yesterday evening: “AGO have received complaints about Stuart Kerner sentence and will consider whether to refer to Court of Appeal under ULS (Unduly Lenient Sentence) scheme.

“Stuart Kerner's sentence will be considered. Decision due by 11 February.”

Judge Joanna Greenberg QC was widely criticised yesterday for the sentence she handed down and the remarks she made which suggested the victim “groomed” Kerner.

She told the packed courtroom yesterday: “It is a tragedy that somebody like you committed offences of this nature and has come to be sentenced.

“The victim pursued you and formed an attachment to you that was not something that you sought.

“Her friends describe her as stalking you.

“What makes this case so different from the many cases of this type is I find no evidence that you groomed or encouraged the victim into a relationship and if grooming is the right word to use, it was she who groomed you and you gave way to temptation at a time when you were emotionally vulnerable because your wife had suffered a miscarriage.”

The father-of-one, from Aylesford, who taught religious studies at the school in Woolwich Road, was found guilty on December 5 after a trial lasting more than two weeks.

He was found not guilty on four counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust, and of two further counts of sexual activity with a child.

Prosecutor Warwick Tatford told the court Kerner took the teenager’s virginity on a yoga mat in an empty room at Bexleyheath Academy on February 28, 2012, the same week his wife miscarried their second child.

'Victim blaming is never helpful'

A spokeswoman from Family Matters, a Gravesend-based charity which helps victims of abuse and rape, has condemned the sentence.

The charity’s clinical director Mary Trevillion said: “I’m glad the Attorney General is looking into it.

“I don’t think ‘grooming’ is the right word for this. Judge Joanna Greenberg QC clearly doesn’t know what grooming is.

“Victim blaming is never helpful.

“I was surprised because judges get training on things like this.

“We expect our teachers to be respectable and trusted and there to be procedures in place to prevent this happening - He is the adult and she is the child."

Ms Trevillion believes the sentence has trivialised the victim’s experience.

She said: “He broke the law – it’s the law and there’s no other interpretation of it.

“There are places he could have gone to get guidance.

“I also desperately hope this does not put off girls coming forward in the future.”

North Kent or Bexley victims of rape or sexual abuse can call Family Matter's helpline on 01474 537 392.