Gloucestershire teacher banned over sex acts with pupil

Anu Tester visited a hotel with the pupil for the purpose of sexual relations, the panel learned

A teacher who engaged in sex acts with a pupil has been banned from the profession indefinitely.

Anu Tester, 35, who taught at a school in Gloucestershire, admitted visiting a hotel in Bristol with the pupil for the purpose of sexual relations.

He had been celebrating A-Level results with pupils and got drunk with them, a panel was told.

It ruled in February his misconduct was "particularly serious" and he "acted dishonestly and without integrity".

Self-expiring email

The Teaching Regulation Agency panel said Mr Tester grew close to the pupil during an academic year, providing her with "emotional support".

Towards the end of the year, the pupil added Mr Tester as a contact on social media sites, which he accepted.

The philosophy teacher started to email and text the pupil and applied security settings to one email that meant it could not be forwarded to other addresses and that it would expire within a week of it being sent.

The panel was told that it was "an attempt, on his part, to disguise the inappropriateness of the email".

'Limited' regret

On A-level results day he travelled to Gloucester with some pupils and got drunk with them, the panel learned.

He subsequently travelled to a hotel in Bristol with one pupil, with whom he shared a bed and invited her to shower with him the next day.

The panel ruled on 19 February Mr Tester's behaviour had been "extremely concerning".

It had "involved a failure to maintain professional boundaries, a lack of integrity, dishonesty and conduct of a sexual nature with a pupil", it said.

It said the teacher had "showed only limited insight" into what happened and showed "limited evidence of regret or remorse".

Mr Tester cannot apply to have his teaching ban lifted.

Avon and Somerset Police investigated Mr Tester but ultimately no action was taken by the force.