Teacher Banned for Life After Having Sexual Relationship with Former Pupil

Richard Murphy, a former religious education teacher at a Bristol secondary school, has been permanently banned from teaching after admitting to a sexual relationship with a pupil the day after she left school.

Murphy, 35, was employed at the school from 2013 to 2021, with a brief hiatus in 2015. Between June 2015 and January 2021, he exchanged sexually explicit messages with the girl, referred to as Pupil A during the hearing, and engaged in a sexual relationship with her. The relationship reportedly began just hours after she left school.

During the investigation, Murphy disclosed that the messages quickly turned sexual and that he invited Pupil A to his home shortly after her final day at school. He sent sexually explicit photos taken in staff toilets and maintained contact over the following years. Although he denied having an inappropriate relationship while she was still a pupil—stressing she was a “former pupil” when the relationship became physical—the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel disagreed, describing this defense as “disturbing.”

The TRA panel emphasized that the relationship was rooted in their teacher-pupil dynamic and highlighted the power imbalance this created. They found it significant that the sexual relationship began less than 24 hours after the pupil left school. Murphy also admitted being sexually aroused by the fact their relationship evolved from that of teacher and pupil, a detail the panel found deeply troubling.

Although Murphy expressed remorse in his statement to the TRA, the panel noted that his regret seemed centered on his own consequences rather than the impact on Pupil A, described as a vulnerable teenager at the time. The relationship ended in 2020 following an anonymous report to the school, which sparked a police investigation. Murphy was dismissed in June 2021 and subsequently banned from teaching in any educational or youth-related institution across England.