A teacher who falsely claimed he had sex with pupils in order to impress a woman in an online chatroom has been banned from teaching.

Gary Ryan, 36, formerly of The Ebbsfleet Academy, Kent, admitted to a professional conduct panel that he had taken part in an inappropriate conversation with an individual on a chatroom.

Mr Ryan admitted that he had told an individual that he had sex with seven pupils, something that was untrue, and that this individual had told him that she had sexually abused her own children.

Mr Ryan also admitted that he may have accessed pictures which included children aged 14-16, but said he did not know the content of these pictures and closed them immediately as he felt uncomfortable with them.

The panel also considered a letter from the police that confirmed that there were no indecent images of children discovered on Mr Ryan’s computer or mobile phone.

While the Teaching Regulation Agency panel accepted that Mr Ryan had no sexual motivation towards children it noted that Mr Ryan’s comments were made in response to the individual’s own comments about the sexual abuse of her own children, and pointed out that Mr Ryan “should have immediately reported the possible sexual abuse of children to the authorities rather than engaging in further conversation”.

And it added: “While the panel found that Mr Ryan did not intentionally view images of 14- to 16-year-old girls in poses, he missed an opportunity to report the images to the authorities.”

The panel found there was no proof that Mr Ryan, who had been employed at Ebbsfleet Academy as a PE teacher and head of house, had a sexual motivation towards viewing images of children.

But it found that he had a sexual motivation in telling an individual that he had sex with pupils. In the conservations in the private chatroom Mr Ryan indicated that he was a teacher who had sex with seven of his pupils although this was untrue, the report of the panel hearing states.

“The panel accepted Mr Ryan’s evidence that his statements to the individual online were untrue, and that he made these statements with the purpose of pursuing a sexual encounter with the individual with whom he was chatting,” the report says.

“The panel accepted that Mr Ryan’s primary sexual motivation was in relation to the person to whom he was speaking online, and whom he believed to be an adult woman.

“The panel accepted Mr Ryan’s statement that he had no sexual motivation towards children. However, using pupils in response to her comments and as part of an ongoing conversation was inherently sexual, and was therefore sexually motivated”.

The panel did accept that Mr Ryan was experiencing considerable difficulties in his personal life at the time of the online activity.

The panel report said that it had considered Mr Ryan’s evidence that he was “deeply ashamed” of his actions and had been open and honest with the police.

It recommended that he was banned from teaching with the provision for this to be reviewed after two years. The decision-maker acting on behalf of the secretary of state accepted the recommendation.