A married teacher was today found not guilty of seducing a pupil.

Jenine Saville-King, 29, was cleared of seven counts of sexual activity with a child and one count of abuse of trust at St Albans crown court.

Ms Saville-King broke down in tears as today's verdict was read out.

It had been alleged that Ms Saville-King of Hook, Hampshire, began an affair with the boy, then aged 15, in 2004, but they did not have sex until after his 16th birthday.

Ms Saville-King maintained her innocence throughout the trial.

The court had been told the relationship lasted for more than a year, continuing even after she became pregnant by her husband, Paul, 37, and gave birth to her first son.

Jurors were told that during the relationship, Ms Saville-King allegedly became "dependent" on the teenager and exchanged 200 pages of MSN internet messages with him over the four-month period between July and October 2005.

In addition the couple sent more than 6,000 text messages to each other the court heard.

The teenager, who is now 18, but cannot be named for legal reasons, told the jury he had engaged in sexual activity with Ms Saville-King in hotels and at her home while her husband was at work.

He told the court he had been in love with Ms Saville-King and claimed they had had sex "two to three times a week".

But the youngster admitted to the courtroom he had approached Ms Saville-King, first asking for help with his maths GCSE coursework.

He also admitted he had obtained her computer chat username after watching her use the MSN Messenger service.

When asked if he had approached her for help as an excuse to be with her he replied: "Yes."

The court also heard that the boy had been in a relationship with a 37-year-old mother-of-three for part of the alleged affair and now lived with the woman.

Ms Saville-King was teaching at a school in Watford, Hertfordshire, when she was alleged to have had the affair with the boy.

She was originally taken on as a teaching assistant, but was soon promoted to assistant year leader and asked to cover classes when colleagues were absent.

During her trial Ms Saville-King admitted "loving" the boy and being "emotionally connected" - but denied having sex with him or engaging in sexual activity.

She told the court: "We were just really, really emotionally connected. It was quite intense. We talked all the time about everything. He told me he loved me, I told him I loved him - but no sex."

She described herself as the boy's last lifeline and added: "I was very fond of him - loved him even - but that's all it was."

Ms Saville-King said the boy had asked her to be his mentor and she had agreed after initially saying no because she did not think he felt he could ask anyone else for help.

Ms Saville-King told jurors she began seeing the boy every day and also agreed that she wrote text and internet messages to him, saying she "missed him".

She told the jury she became pregnant in November 2004 and that she told the boy and other friends.

But she dismissed any suggestion that she thought the boy might be the father, saying it was "impossible".

She said she was angered when police took DNA swabs from her and her first child to check who the father was after she was arrested.

Sarah Forshaw, for the defence, told the trial that the boy had tried to blackmail Ms Saville-King and told of the relationship after being accused of harassing the teacher.

Jurors heard that Ms Saville-King had told police she had been "very greatly disturbed by the allegations".

She told the court: "The boy has pursued a campaign that became one of harassment, intimidation and threats of different kinds towards me and my family."

She also told detectives she accepted that, with the benefit of hindsight, she should never have allowed the situation with the youngster to develop in the way it did.

Ms Saville-King also told the trial that she had suffered from depression and the eating disorder bulimia and had stopped working at the school after suffering stress.