A Surrey teacher who groomed and sexually abused a teenage pupil nearly 40 years ago has been jailed for 12 years.

Anthony Woolford, 76, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court on Friday after being convicted of rape, indecent assault and possession of indecent images.

Woolford was working as a teacher in the late 1980s when he groomed the girl, who was one of his pupils.

The abuse initially involved sexual activity in classroom cupboards on school premises before Woolford began picking her up at weekends, supposedly to take her to church services.

Instead, he would take her for “prosecco and prawns” before returning to his home, where he sexually abused her and took indecent photographs.

Several of the images were discovered in Woolford’s possession during another investigation in 2018.

The victim-survivor identified herself in the photographs in 2023.

She said: “Finding out that these photos still existed fills me with utter shame. The fact that he kept them, that he never destroyed them, means I will now live with a deep and lasting sense of fear and exposure.

“The possibility that they could resurface at any moment is a constant weight I carry.”

She described how the abuse had affected her education and led to a reliance on cigarettes and alcohol, which she said Woolford had initially encouraged her to use.

She also spoke of living in “a prolonged state of hypervigilance”, with “a persistent fear of abandonment, a compulsive need to please others in order to feel safe, and a heightened sensitivity to perceived aggression or conflict”.

Woolford denied the allegations and claimed he did not know the woman.

She said: “His denial is not just a lie. It is another attempt to erase me, to erase what he did, and to protect himself at any cost.”

But she said reporting the abuse had also become an important part of her healing process.

“For the first time, I am not carrying this alone,” she said.

“Coming forward has forced me to relive things I never wanted to revisit. But I am here because my voice matters.

“By reporting what he did…I have stood up for the child I once was, and for every child who deserves protection and safety.”

Investigating officer DC Fiona Clare paid tribute to the woman for coming forward decades after the abuse.

She said: “I pay tribute to the victim-survivor’s courage in coming forward after so many years of carrying this burden alone. Her bravery has put Woolford behind bars, and it would not have happened without her.

“The pre-sentencing report assessed that the risk posed by Woolford ‘is unmanageable in the community’ and that he is ‘highly likely to re-offend’, so in coming forward the victim-survivor has undoubtedly protected others and prevented potential future offences.”

Surrey Police said anyone who has been a victim of a sexual offence can report it regardless of how long ago it happened.