Doncaster PE teacher banned for life after sex with pupil, 17

Luke Atkinson, 25, has been left with his career in tatters after the one-night stand with the teenage student, who cannot be identified.

Atkinson’s downfall began on a Saturday night in June 2012 when he met the girl in The Priory nightclub, in Doncaster, where she was out with a group of friends.

In the early hours he took her to a hotel room where they ‘engaged in sexual activity’, a misconduct hearing found.

After a disciplinary hearing in November that year, following a police investigation, he was sacked from Balby Carr School in Doncaster - where he had worked since 2010.

Atkinson failed to attend the Professional Misconduct Panel of the National College for Teaching and Leadership in Coventry last month and his request for it to be heard in private was refused.

The hearing was told he lied about taking the girl to a hotel but the panel saw CCTV footage of them entering the premises together.

The girl, now 19, reluctantly gave evidence against him by video link and refused to have him prosecuted after a police investigation.

The misconduct panel said the girl was a ‘very credible’ witness and found the allegation of engaging in sexual activity with her proven.

They also found Atkinson guilty of failing to co-operate with the police investigation into a safeguarding matter, and attempting to mislead those responsible for investigating the incident by lying about booking into the hotel.

The panel found his behaviour amounted to unacceptable professional conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.

The panel recommended a prohibition order should last for a minimum of five years because the girl had engaged willingly in sexual activity and was above the age of consent at the time and it was an isolated incident.

But Alan Meyrick, on behalf of then Education Secretary Michael Gove, said there was insufficient evidence that Atkinson had expressed remorse.

He added: “Although he was a young teacher at the time, his behaviour was deliberate and he would have had no doubt that it was a serious breach of the standards that are expected of a teacher.

“His behaviour is so serious that a review period is not in the public interest.

“This means that Mr Atkinson is prohibited from teaching indefinitely...and shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.”