Teacher Robin Kyne banned over relationship with former pupil

The teacher started texting the pupil when she was still at college

A married teacher who had a sexual relationship with a pupil shortly after she left college has been banned from the profession.

Robin Kyne asked the pupil for her number while she was still studying at Regent College in Leicester, saying it was to contact her about homework.

He was a drama teacher at the time, but was an assistant principal by the time their sexual relationship began.

The Teaching Regulation Agency found he breached several teachers' standards.

Following a hearing, a professional conduct panel said in its outcome that his conduct "amounted to both unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute".

"The findings of misconduct are serious, and the conduct displayed would be likely to have a negative impact on Mr Kyne's status as a teacher and would be likely to damage the public perception," it said.

"The panel therefore found that Mr Kyne's actions constituted conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute."

The teacher sent increasingly sexual Facebook messages to his former pupil

Mr Kyne, who is now 54, was employed at Regent College between August 2004 and December 2010.

He was initially employed as a drama teacher, but was promoted to assistant principal in or around September 2007.

He first started behaving inappropriately towards the pupil during drama lessons, between 2005 and 2007.

Giving evidence, the former pupil said he touched her and made a "cheeky" comment, which she perceived as being "in a way that your male friends might do in an attempt to be physically flirty".

On another occasion, he touched her inappropriately while demonstrating something in the scene of a play the class was working on.

He got the pupil's phone number after stopping her in a corridor, explaining that he was obtaining pupils' numbers so that he could contact them about homework.

The pupil said he later texted her about matters unrelated to homework.

Pressured to buy drugs

Mr Kyne started messaging the young woman on Facebook in August 2007, after she had left the college, and the messages became increasingly sexual.

They met up in September, when he kissed her and touched her bottom. They then started having sex in October of that year.

The former pupil told the hearing that Mr Kyne also pressured her to buy drugs for him after she started university, including cocaine and MDMA.

"Pupil A felt that Mr Kyne would put a lot of pressure on her and threaten to cancel or break up with her if she did not do so," the panel said.

In one message, in response to the pupil stating that the thought of taking pills frightened her, he wrote: "I promise I'll look after you...you trust me, don't you...I'd never let you come to any harm...I'm an old hand at this, trust me."

In another he wrote: "Tonight, I would ask two things of you...a nice sexy pic and a final try for some drugs..."

The teacher pressured his former pupil to buy drugs for him after she started university

Mr Kyne did not deny having a sexual relationship with the pupil, but he maintained that his conduct was not of a sexual nature or sexually motivated while she was a pupil.

However, the panel concluded that his conduct was sexually motivated.

"The panel was of the view that Mr Kyne's conduct and relationship with Pupil A after she left college was directly related to the relationship they had whilst she was at college," the panel said.

"Ultimately, the panel considered that Mr Kyne's actions amounted to an exploitation of trust; Pupil A was his student and she was vulnerable."

The relationship only came to light in January 2019, when the former pupil made a disclosure to someone working for Leicester City Council.

Mr Kyne was employed by the council at this point, and the council then reported the matter to the Teaching Regulation Agency.

The panel said Mr Kyne had "failed to demonstrate any remorse or insight", despite "having 15 years to reflect on his conduct".