Married Swindon teacher who drove to a pupil's house at 1am is banned from the classroom over a sexual relationship

Mark Fletcher, 45, a married teacher at Ridgeway School and Sixth Form College, has been permanently struck off after a Teaching Regulation Agency panel upheld every allegation against him. He drove to the pupil's home at around 1am on 30 August 2019; she slipped out of the house to meet him and the two sat talking in his car until 6am. The panel determined he had made a deliberate effort to hide the encounter and had been dishonest throughout.

Fletcher sent the pupil a secret letter saying 'it is rare to meet someone who changes who you are' and emailed her repeatedly in the middle of the night.

Once the pupil had left the school, the relationship turned sexual; police looked into the matter but took no further action against Fletcher.

Fletcher neither attended the panel hearing nor made any admissions, contesting every allegation — yet the panel found them all proved regardless.