A teacher who slept with a former pupil on several occasions has been banned from the profession indefinitely.

James Bell, 36, admitted to making sexual advances towards the girl - who had recently left the school in the North East of England where he was still employed - after joining her for a night out.

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A professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency heard that, on 1 September 2018, Mr Bell bought alcoholic drinks for the girl, whom he had taught, and her friends after spotting them in a pub.

The science teacher also made inappropriate comments, such as “Which member of staff would you most like to sleep with?”, and told the girl that he found her attractive.

The panel heard that, as the evening progressed, Mr Bell touched the former pupil’s leg, cuddled her, and later pushed her against a wall, kissed her, touched her bottom and put his hands down her jeans.

He went home but, in the early hours of the next morning, contacted the girl and invited her to his house. She agreed, and the pair slept together on several occasions.

Mr Bell was questioned by the school on 3 September after a photograph emerged on Snapchat, showing him having drinks with the girl and her friends.

He was issued with letter of management advice after claiming he had seen the group in the pub by chance, and had not bought them any alcoholic drinks.

Mr Bell contacted the girl that same day and told her to delete all their messages. He also gave her advice on what to say if the school contacted her about what had happened.

Two months later, on 3 November, he sent a number of messages to the former pupil, some of which were sexually explicit. 

And on 5 November, he called the girl, again asking her not to disclose what had happened between them.

The former pupil reported the relationship to another teacher that same day, and Mr Bell resigned on 6 November.

The panel noted that the Mr Bell’s contact with the girl took place outside of an education setting, as she had recently left the school.

However, it said that it was inappropriate for Mr Bell to engage in behaviour of a sexualised nature with a former pupil.

It added that it was not convinced Mr Bell had “fully taken on board the reputational damage to the school” or “adequately recognised the serious nature of his dishonest conduct”.

The panel found that Mr Bell’s actions amounted to “a gross blurring of professional boundaries”, and recommended that he should be banned from teaching indefinitely with no possibility of a review.

Its decision was upheld by Alan Meyrick, decision-maker on behalf of the secretary of state.