A FORMER Hexham teacher has been banned from working after it emerged he used a school laptop to access sexually explicit websites.

The government’s Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) ruled that Peter Drake, who served at Hexham’s Queen Elizabeth High School for 30 years, is prohibited from teaching indefinitely.

The science teacher cannot apply for his ban to be lifted for at least four years, a newly-published report by the agency confirmed.

The report stated that Mr Drake (57), began working at QEHS in 1989, but in May 2019, the school’s IT systems detected he had been accessing inappropriate websites on his laptop.

He was suspended while referrals were made to the police and local authority, but resigned from his position at the school with immediate effect.

The report said no further action was to be taken by the police or local authority, and Mr Drake was subsequently referred to the TRA, which appointed a professional conduct panel to investigate the case.

The panel found he engaged in inappropriate use of school equipment on one or more occasions between February and May 2019.

It found he made one or more internet searches for sexual material, and accessed pornographic websites during school hours and whilst on school premises.

Mr Drake also engaged in chat room activity that was of a sexual nature and/or related to a school environment, said the report.

The report stated that Mr Drake admitted sending a message to a user of the site, advertised as 19 years old, before receiving a reply that she was under 16.

The TRA report said Mr Drake had admitted the allegations and had expressed remorse for his actions. The panel found Mr Drake’s actions to fall significantly short of the profession’s high standards.

It observed: “Mr Drake acknowledged that when accessing the sites in question, he was in the proximity of pupils and there was a risk that pupils could have seen the pornographic webpages.

“This was, in the panel’s view, a serious failing on his part. Had this risk materialised, pupils could have been detrimentally affected.”

The panel concluded: “Mr Peter Drake cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.”

Efforts were made to contact both Mr Drake and the Hadrian Learning Trust.