A Female School Teacher in sex scandal with a male pupil, 16

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The relationship began after the teacher returned a prank phone call, the panel heard. Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian

A woman who had sex with a 16-year-old school pupil has been struck off the teaching register by a disciplinary panel.

Emma Louise Ager was teaching English at Rhymney comprehensive, in South Wales, when she began the relationship with the teenager.

A hearing in Cardiff was told the pair would meet up almost daily to have sex in her car, with her telling him he would be "a legend" among his friends.

Miss Ager, 34, denied the allegations, but a General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW) panel found her guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.

The panel chairman, Steve Powell, ruled that Ager would be subject to an "indefinite" prohibition order.
"The gravity of her conduct was such that the registrant's readmittance would not be in the interests of pupils or parents.

"The order is necessary to protect pupils and maintain confidence in the teaching profession," he said.
The boy, referred to as Pupil A in the hearing, was studying for his GSCEs when Ager began driving him to secret sex sessions in a factory car park in 2008.

At that time the Irish-born teacher had been at the school for two years.
Pupil A said the relationship had begun after a friend of his got hold of her mobile phone number. After a prank call to her number, Ager phoned back and the pair chatted.

During an earlier hearing the boy, now 22, told the panel: "She put a bet on me not being able to keep up with her during sex."

He later claimed the teacher had "bombarded" him with phone calls and sexual text messages during their two-month relationship, in March 2008. The relationship ended after Pupil A got back with his ex-girlfriend.
"It was common knowledge among pupils in the school but I don't know if the teachers knew," he had told the hearing.

The relationship eventually did come to light after the boy's mother overheard a phone call between the pair and also saw text messages on her son's phone.
After a meeting with the school's then headteacher, Meredydd Davies James, Ager resigned on 20 March.

James had denied knowing about the relationship between teacher and pupil.
He stressed he had only heard gossip about alleged inappropriate behaviour, and believed there was no real substance to the claims.

However, the GTCW panel ruled that James had not followed the proper child protection procedures on three occasions and was therefore guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.

It came to that decision after hearing evidence the former school head had provided Ager with references for future teaching jobs, with one saying her relationship with students was good.

James, 62, has since retired, though in theory he could have gone back into teaching. With this possibility in mind, the panel decided to make him the subject of a suspension order.

Powell said the lesser sanctions of a reprimand or conditional registration order were insufficient.
"The conduct cannot be described as an isolated lapse," he added.

James's name will be removed from the teaching register for a period of three months. If he wants to reapply, he will have to pass a training programme.

Neither Ager nor James were present at the hearing, in the Parc Hotel, Cardiff.