A teacher who sent more than 100 late-night messages to a pupil has been banned from the profession.

Richard Hill, a science teacher who had taught at Trafalgar School in Portsmouth since 2021, had “inappropriate” contact with a girl over a two week period in June 2024.

A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel deemed the messages “unprofessional and over-familiar”, but found no evidence the messages were sexually motivated.

In a written response, Hill said he had “a poor lapse in judgement” and he added that he regretted not raising the issue with senior leaders at the earliest opportunity.

He said: “This dreadful, stressful experience has taught me a very valuable lesson.”

“I feel I have let my family and colleagues down and deeply regret not bringing this to the senior leaders attention at my earliest opportunity,” he added.

The panel heard the pair began emailing via the former teacher's school account, but he then gave the pupil his personal email address and mobile number.

The findings of the report showed that more than 160 messages were sent by Hill to the pupil via WhatsApp.

More than 140 of those messages were found to have been sent after 6pm and approximately 100 of these were sent after 8pm — some of those conversations continued until just after midnight.

The pupil said the messages Hill sent over the messaging app WhatsApp were more friendly than over email.

Hill messaged the pupil saying she was the “absolute exception in terms of contact details” and that he “wouldn’t even entertain the idea of giving my contact details to anyone else!”

When the pupil stated during a conversation that if Hill needs to leave the chat to do other things he can go, he replied, “Don’t be silly, there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.”

During messages relating to football teams Hill said “Tottenham shirt will not be burned! Don’t make me have to punish you!” The comment made the pupil feel both uncomfortable and “Icky”.

The pupil confirmed that Hill’s WhatsApp notifications did not show his name on her lockscreen, he replied: “Ah that’s good to know! I might message you a bit more knowing that although it seems strange as you keep calling me sir!”

One one occasion Hill sent the pupil a heart emoji at the end of a message after they had said “morning” to each other which made her feel so uncomfortable she deleted the message.

She also felt Hill crossed a line when he sent her photos of different outfits to get her opinion on what to wear.

The girl’s mother complained to the school in July 2024 and Hill was suspended. Police took no further action, but Hill was fired from the school in November that year.

Hill admitted most of the allegations but denied any sexual motive.

The panel concluded that the nature and severity of the behaviour was at “the lower level of seriousness.”

Marc Cavey, acting for the Education Secretary, overruled the panel's recommendation and banned Hill from teaching indefinitely.

Hill can apply to have the teaching ban lifted from October 2028, and has 28 days to appeal the decision to the High Court.

A spokesperson for Trafalgar School said: "This individual was suspended as soon as we were made aware of the inappropriate communication in 2024, and he did not return to our community after that.

"The school made the referral to the TRA as part of this process and the panel rightly concluded that while the messages were not illegal, they did not meet the standards expected of teachers.

"We all work tirelessly to ensure Trafalgar School is a place where children feel safe, happy and can learn, and we therefore welcome the TRA’s decision."