A science teacher has been barred from the classroom for at least five years after he was caught with Class A drugs.

Julian McAlpine, who taught at Jack Hunt School in Peterborough, was arrested in July 2017 after police searched his home and car on a drugs warrant.

The 44-year-old was convicted for possession in March and ordered to pay more than £900 in fines and costs over the incident.

He told police he had used drugs “sporadically” since his 20s but had never sold them to anyone else.

Police confirmed that Mr McAlpine, who did not attend the hearing, had never taken drugs onto school premises or dealt them.

The panel found his conduct had breached the Teachers’ Standards on ethics, safeguarding students and upholding the law.

“Society has the right to expect teachers to uphold the law, promote positive values and to educate children with regard to their personal safety and the harmful effects of illegal substances,” it said in its report.

“Furthermore, there is an expectation that teachers will be a positive influence as role models in all these respects. Mr McAlpine’s actions and behaviours were clearly at odds with these expectations.”

Decision-maker Dawn Dandy ordered Mr McAlpine be banned from teaching indefinitely, with the possibility to reapply in five years.

“In this case, two factors mean that a two-year review period is not sufficient to achieve the aim of maintaining public confidence in the profession,” she wrote.

“These elements are the serious nature of the convictions found and the lack of full insight or remorse.”