A school vice principal who a judge said was "groomed" by the girl he was convicted of abusing has started an Appeal Court bid to clear his name.

Stuart Kerner, 45, of Russett Close, Aylesford, was found guilty in February last year of having an affair with a teenage girl.

But after Judge Joanna Greenberg QC said she considered he had been "stalked" by the girl, he walked away with a suspended sentence.

Today, the Bexleyheath Academy teacher was back in court as his legal team launched a challenge to his convictions before the country's most senior judge.

Kerner claims the jury's guilty verdicts on two counts of sexual activity while in a position of trust were "logically inconsistent" with not guilty decisions on others.

The appeal is being heard alongside four others by the lord chief justice Lord Thomas and two senior colleagues at the Court of Appeal.

Barrister Edward Ellis said the case had hinged on the victim's credibility and reliability as a witness.

Yet, the jury had been sure she was telling the truth on two counts, but not on others, he told the London court.

"If they had to fall back on credibility and reliability, then they should have found similarly to how they found in the counts on which they acquitted my client," he said.

"They should have acquitted."

During his trial at Inner London Crown Court last year, jurors heard Kerner was accused of having sex with the teen on a yoga mat.

However, the trial judge said she considered Kerner to have been "groomed" by the girl and that he "gave in to temptation".

Kerner's case is unusually being heard by three senior judges - Lord Thomas, Lord Justice Treacy and Lady Justice Hallett - because of the importance of the issues.

Lord Thomas said the issue of alleged "logically inconsistent" verdicts needed to be considered because of the huge increase in sex cases, which often involve multiple counts, coming before the courts.

A decision is not expected until a later date.