A DISGRACED former teacher at The Castle School in Thornbury has been banned from the classroom for life after having a sexual relationship with a pupil.

Simon Parsons, 54, from Dursley, has been banned from teaching after a disciplinary hearing in Coventry.

Parsons, who was head of drama at The Castle School, was jailed for a year in January 2015 after admitting five counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust.

The National College of Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) panel found that Parsons, who qualified as a teacher in 1987, began a relationship with the girl when she was 16 and had intercourse with her when she was 17. At the time he was 43.

In a statement, the panel said: “In the year before her 18th birthday, when the activity ceased being illegal, they had sexual intercourse on numerous occasions, including on school premises.

“The relationship continued after Pupil A left school and gave birth to a son. It was not disputed that Mr Parsons was the father of the child.”

After the relationship broke down, the girl - aged 24 at the time - was persuaded by an aunt to report Parsons to the police.

Imposing the teaching ban, Alan Meyrick, deputy director of the NCTL, said Parson’s behaviour amounted to “serious sexual misconduct.”

In some cases, teachers can seek to have the ban lifted after a number of years, but Mr Meyrick ruled that Parsons should never be given that opportunity.

However, Parsons could go to the High Court to challenge the findings of the NCTL panel and the ban, if he wishes.

Back when Parsons was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court in 2015, the court heard that he became the girl's teacher when she was 13 but they did not begin a sexual relationship until she was 17.