A 33-year-old gymnastics coach has been jailed for 12 years for the manslaughter and sexual abuse of a 14-year-old girl who attended the club where he taught.

Olivier van de G was arrested on December 31 last year, the same day the body of the girl, named only as Esmee, was found. He claimed to have had a sexual relationship with herr since she was 13 and that she regularly came to his home in Leiden.

In court Van de G he said he could not remember how she died, only that they had had an argument and a struggle. On realising she was dead, Van der G took action to remove all trace of her, taking her body to a park and throwing her phone in a canal.

Judges in The Hague ruled that there was insufficient evidence Van de G had set out to kill Esmee but found him guilty of manslaughter, removing the body, sexual abuse and the possessing child pornography.

‘You ended the life of a 14-year-old girl in an appalling way, a girl who placed her trust in you,’ the court said. ‘It is painful and shocking that her body was left by a tree in a park,’ an act which had only intensified the feeling of sadness, the court said.

Van de G was also ordered to pay compensation of nearly €40,000 to Esmee’s mother, €26,000 to her father and €17,500 her stepfather.

Once he has completed his jail sentence, Van de G will spend time in a psychiatric unit because of the risk of reoffending.

Psychiatrists who had examined Van de G ahead of the trial said he had a personality disorder and a sexual preference for pubescent girls aged 12 to 16.The court rejected the prosecution’s demand that Van de G be banned from teaching gymnastics for five years, saying his profession was unconnected to the girl’s death.