A teacher has been sacked after bombarding a pupil with emails and texts declaring his love for her.
Andrew Bell, 50, a history and archaeology teacher at Colchester Sixth Form College, sent messages to the pupil over nine months.
One text sent from France read: “I am in Paris again and remembering how much I was in love with you.”
Bell, 50, faces a classroom ban after the National College for Teaching and Leadership found him guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.
A disciplinary panel heard how Bell had allowed pupils to drink alcohol on a school trip to Paris in March 2012. After the trip the object of his affections became “distant” from him, concerned about his behaviour. Her mother asked that Bell not be allowed one-to-one contact, a measure the teacher agreed to, but over the following months he sent the girl texts declaring his love.
The college suspended Bell after the mother reported his breach of trust.
Bell told the disciplinary panel he had used the word “love” informally but it concluded he had crossed the line. He will discover his fate next week but could be banned from teaching.
A college spokesman said police had not been informed on legal advice.
