
A teacher who declared his love for a pupil and said he wanted to "touch, snuggle and kiss" her has been banned from the profession indefinitely.
Simon Pratt, who taught at the Wrenn Academy in Wellingborough, engaged in "inappropriate communications" with a Year 12 pupil.
A misconduct panel ruled he breached standards and there was "a risk of the repetition of this behaviour".
Mr Pratt can apply for the ruling to be reviewed in two years.
The business studies, economics and law teacher emailed "Pupil A" to express his feelings towards her and also sent text messages and asked her to visit the coast with him.
He lost his job when the contact was reported to to the Teaching Regulation Agency in 2016.
In an email sent to Pupil A, Mr Pratt said he was in love with her and dreamed of kissing her, mentioning the "thrill" of imagining touching her hair.
'Sexualised thoughts'
He later asked the student to delete the email.
Mr Pratt accepted writing the "stupid" letter but claimed that at the time, he was suffering from work-related stress and was not in control of his actions.
Giving evidence at the misconduct hearing in Coventry, Pupil A told how Mr Pratt's letter had "confused and upset her".
In a statement, the panel said Mr Pratt had clearly experienced "sexualised thoughts" about the student and "betrayed the trust" of Pupil A, whose "personal issues and vulnerabilities which were well-known to him".
It added: "Prohibition is both proportionate and appropriate.
"The vulnerability of Pupil A as known to Mr Pratt, the nature of his conduct, its sexual motivation, his abuse of a position of trust and the fact that Mr Pratt made attempts to conceal his conduct, were significant factors in forming that opinion."
Mr Pratt was not present at the hearing due to ill health.