A FORMER PE teacher at Bromsgrove School has been found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and banned from teaching indefinitely after he sent inappropriate texts and emails to pupils.

Gareth George, 30, who resigned from the school after being suspended in 2014, appeared in front of a disciplinary professional conduct panel via Skype on Monday, February 15 for breaching professional boundaries.

Amongst those allegations proved in the hearing, Mr George was evidenced to have emailed or texted two pupils outside of school hours and asked one if she had Whatsapp.

The hearing also proved that he asked a pupil to ‘save’ him while on duty, offered to hold her up while doing pull-ups and singled her out on one or more occasions.

Mr George denied singling out the pupil and said: “I did not treat Pupil B in a way that I would not have treated many other pupils.”

He also denied asking her to ‘save’ him while on boarder duty, claiming: “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

The panel decided by a majority decision that it did not believe Mr George’s actions were sexually motivated.

After hearing evidence from the two pupils as well as Mr George, the panel found him guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and recommended that he be prohibited from teaching for at least three years.

Jayne Millions, decision maker on behalf of the secretary of state for education, said: “Taking all of the facts into account I support the recommendation of the panel that Mr George be prohibited. This seems to be proportionate and appropriate.”

Mr George is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and can no longer teach in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children’s home in England.

He now has 28 days to appeal to the High Court against the decision.