School backs ban for kissing girl

Bosses at a Shropshire school have supported the decision of a tribunal to uphold a teaching ban on a former teacher who was caught engaging in inappropriate behaviour with a 17-year-old pupil.

Trevor Brazier resigned from his teaching post at Ellesmere College when his activities came to light after the girl submitted school coursework on a computer memory stick.

Photographs of her being kissed by Brazier were found on the stick, which also contained images of the pair of them together with champagne glasses and one of the girl naked.

Brazier, who was 33 at the time of the incident, denied he was present when the nude photograph of the girl was taken and denied any sexual intimacy had taken place with the girl.

Brazier, who was 33 at the time of the incident, denied he was present when the nude photograph of the girl was taken and denied any sexual intimacy had taken place with the girl.

The matter was referred to the Education Secretary who issued the ban.

Brendan Wignall, headmaster of Ellesmere College, said today: "We support the decision by the Care Standards Tribunal to bar Trevor Brazier from employment in schools on the grounds of misconduct.

"We take such issues incredibly seriously and conducted our own thorough investigation and have liaised with the authorities closely throughout this process.

"Trevor left the school as soon as our suspicions were confirmed.

"As a leading boarding school our focus is very much on the pastoral care of all our students and due to the robust procedures we have in place, we were able to investigate and act appropriately."

In challenging the ban, Brazier claimed that it had effectively destroyed not only his life but also that of his family.

The findings said that he admitted what he had done was wrong and that he had "acted with incredible stupidity".