Trafalgar School teacher banned after sending 'over familiar' and 'icky' messages to former pupil

A Portsmouth teacher has been struck off after making a former pupil feel ‘icky’ by sending her more than 100 ‘over familiar’ Whatsapp messages.

Richard Hill, who previously worked at Trafalgar School in Hilsea before being sacked, has been banned from teaching indefinitely following a misconduct panel by the Teaching Regulation Agency.

Between approximately June 14 and June 25, 2024, the 48-year-old exchanged unprofessional emails with a student on his school account before providing his personal contact details. He proceeded to send the pupil more than 160 Whatsapp messages until the end of June, a panel heard.

The panel found that Pupil A and Mr Hill started corresponding via their school email addresses as she stated she wanted to stay in contact with a few teachers to send them updates after her exams and over the summer. It was noted how they would communicate several times a day and the conversation became more casual on their personal email accounts.

In one message, the teacher said: “You are the absolute exception in terms of contact details. I wouldn’t even entertain the idea of giving my contact details to anyone else.”

During messages relating to football teams, he said: “Tottenham shirt will not be burned! Don’t make me have to punish you!”

Other messages included: “Cause I’m 6’5?!? With a hand span that can cover an entire dinner plate” and “I guess that means I’ve got you to myself!”

On July 2, 2024, the school received a complaint from Pupil A’s mother regarding Mr Hill’s contact with her daughter, and he was subsequently suspended from his role at the school. Two days later, he was arrested but no further action was taken by police.

Following a disciplinary hearing at the secondary school, he was terminated from his employment in November 2024.

The misconduct panel said: “She (Pupil A) submitted that she felt Mr Hill crossed a line when he sent her photos of different outfits to get her opinion on what to wear. Pupil A stated that there was one occasion where Mr Hill had sent her a heart emoji at the end of a message, after they had said “morning” to each other which made her feel so uncomfortable she deleted the message. When giving evidence to the panel in relation to the “Don’t make me have to punish you!” message, Pupil A stated this made her feel both uncomfortable and ‘icky’.”

Mr Hill’s written responded to the allegations in which he stated that the messages were sent “at a conversational level in a polite, open manner” and submitted that the extracts in the bundle could be distorted and misinterpreted.

He admitted to all of the allegations apart from one which accused his actions of being sexually motivated. He said the messages were not in any way sexually motivated and that, at the time of the allegations, he never thought that his “supportive” actions could be viewed as anything other than “encouraging”.

The published hearing report continued: “The panel found that whilst the messages sent to Pupil A, clearly overstepped professional boundaries and were over-familiar, they were an attempt by Mr Hill to bolster Pupil A’s self-esteem at a time when she was experiencing some personal difficulties.

“The panel did not however find that there existed any sexual motive by Mr Hill. The panel concluded his conduct was done neither in pursuit of sexual gratification nor in pursuit of a sexual relationship.”

The misconduct panel finalised that Mr Hill’s behaviour was unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.

As a result, “Mr Richard Hill is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.”

He will be able to apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until October 23, 2028 and it is not automatically guaranteed the order will be removed.

To read the full report, click here.