Matthew Edison, who formerly taught at Finborough School near Stowmarket, is banned from teaching following inappropriate behaviour

A teacher who was drunk in the presence of students, offered to buy them drugs and intentionally touched pupils’ legs has been banned from the profession.

Matthew Edison, 35, had been head of maths at Finborough School, an independent day and boarding school near Stowmarket, before his employment was terminated.

On February 18 this year he was banned from teaching indefinitely by the Secretary of State after a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) considered his case.

The panel was satisfied that Mr Edison was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct – conduct which fell ‘significantly short’ of the standard of behaviour expected of a teacher – and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.

The panel found he had been drunk in the presence of students and had offered to buy pupils drugs.

He was also found to have repeatedly made inappropriate remarks to a pupil, he had shared inappropriate song lyrics written by him with a pupil, and he intentionally touched two pupils’ legs – conduct which was found to be sexually motivated.

The panel said: “The boundaries between the teacher and student relationship were blurred.”

Mr Edison, who joined the school as a maths teacher, had been investigated by his school following a Burns Night supper, with him admitting he had drunk prosecco, wine and whisky on the evening and his memory of it was ‘limited’.

Student statements said he was ‘drunk’ and described a picture being taken of Mr Edison kissing a pupil on the cheek.

The panel found it proved that Mr Edison had passively permitted the consumption of alcohol, thus assisting in its continued supply, but found there was no evidence he had actually supplied drugs and/or cigarettes to students.

Following the Burns Night incident, he was issued with a final written warning that was on his record for two years. He was found to have complied with these conditions, and was appointed as head of maths.

Finborough School then commenced another investigation after two pupils approached the school to allege he had shared inappropriate song lyrics with one of the pupils.

In his statement during the school’s investigation, Mr Edison said he had decided to write a song, which a pupil helped with and the lyrics were shared by a Google document.

The pupil’s written statement noted that, when she and another pupil, were looking at the Google document, Mr Edison was typing something along the lines of ‘I can’t get you out of my head, I want you in my bed’.

They then both state that they witnessed this line being deleted by Mr Edison.

As well as the inappropriate song lyrics, Mr Edison was found to have made remarks like ‘you look beautiful’, ‘I love you’, ‘you are my favourite’ and ‘you should be a model’ to a pupil.

He was also found to have invited two pupils to his home without good reason. While there was no evidence that this invitation was with the intention of anything sexual occurring on that occasion, the panel considered it to demonstrate Mr Edison pursuing a closer relationship with a pupil.

The panel said: “The constant repetition and increasing intensity led the panel to conclude that there was an escalation in inappropriate behaviour.

“Taken as a whole the panel did find that there was a pattern of behaviour that indicated an escalation and that Mr Edison was acting in pursuit of a future sexual relationship.”

The panel also found proved that he had arranged a charity walking event – which didn’t go ahead – so he could spend more time with two pupils.

Mr Edison had accepted that his actions and words were ‘over familiar, irresponsible and at times inappropriate’ although stated that there was no sexual motivation behind them.

He also took the opportunity in his statement to the panel to apologise to those involved.

Mr Edison, who was a non-qualified teacher, had since taken a further course in safeguarding to ensure he was up-to-date on safeguarding issues.

The ban means Mr Edison is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.

He may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until February 25, 2030, at the earliest.