A 36-year-old teacher who had sex with a vulnerable former A-level student and then misled his school about what had happened has been banned from the profession for life.

David Bell, a former director of learning at the Bedlington Academy in Northumberland, saw the 18-year-old former pupil out with friends at a Wetherspoon pub, where he bought drinks for the group.

As the evening went on, Mr Bell made inappropriate and sexually suggestive comments to the former pupil and then kissed and touched her intimately. The science teacher then invited her to his house in the early hours where they had sex on several occasions.

Mr Bell told the former pupil what to say if the school investigated and he attempted to mislead his school by giving a false account about what had happened.

A misconduct panel said that Mr Bell’s actions constituted unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.

He has been banned from teaching indefinitely.

The incidents took place at the beginning of September last year, a few months after the pupil had left the school.

As a result of a post on Snapchat of a photograph of Mr Bell drinking with the former pupil and others, the school opened an investigation, the panel’s report said.

Teacher ‘exploited his influence’

When questioned by his school immediately after the encounter in September, Mr Bell said he had seen the students in the pub by chance, had not bought them any drinks and had been in their company for around an hour before going home.

The panel said: “The panel has found that this was a deliberate attempt to withhold the truth in order to avoid any potential consequences for his actions of that night. These actions were dishonest and must be considered a serious transgression from what is expected of a teacher.”

Two months after he slept with the former pupil, he sent her a series of sexually explicit messages and then sent her another message telling her not to tell anyone what had happened.

However, the former pupil told another teacher at the school what happened and Mr Bell resigned the next day.

The Teaching Regulation Agency report said the student was a former pupil of Mr Bell, who had been her head of year and her head of house during years 9 to 11.

The report said Mr Bell would have been aware that there were safeguarding concerns about the pupil and therefore that she was vulnerable.

It added: “The panel considers that Mr Bell was exploiting the influence he derived from having been her teacher. The panel considers Mr Bell’s conduct to be a gross blurring of professional boundaries.”

The panel said that it had taken into account that Mr Bell had admitted the allegations and his personal circumstances and health at the time.

However, it added: “The panel is concerned that Mr Bell has sought to minimise the gravity of his behaviour by attributing his conduct to the personal and health issues he was experiencing at the time. The panel considers this to be a failure to take genuine responsibility for his actions.

“Mr Bell’s conduct is likely to be viewed by members of the public as reprehensible. The panel takes the view that Mr Bell’s entire course of conduct renders him fundamentally incompatible with being a teacher.”

Decision-maker Alan Meyrick, acting on behalf of the education secretary, accepted the panel’s recommendation that a prohibition order preventing Mr Bell from teaching should be made.

He said: “The panel decided that the public interest considerations outweighed the interests of Mr Bell.

“The gross blurring of professional boundaries, the sexually motivated conduct with an ex-pupil and the attempts to cover up his actions were a significant factor in forming that opinion.”