The Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal has suspended a teacher for 12 months after it found him guilty of serious misconduct for actions which brought the profession into disrepute.

The teacher had exchanged text messages with a female student, met her outside of school, taken her to his home, drank alcohol with her, inappropriately touched her, slept in the same room as her, and undressed to his underwear.

The teacher accepted that his behavior was inappropriate but attempted to put some of the blame on the student for initiating some of the events.

This was not accepted by the Tribunal that also ordered him to be censured and to undertake a professional development programme on boundaries, and to inform any employers of the disciplinary findings.