A TEACHER who sent pictures of himself in his underwear to pupils over social media has been banned from the profession for life.

Joel Osborne, 31, who worked as a humanities teacher at Harwich and Dovercourt High School, sent an image of himself from his bed.

He admitted sending the image to a pupil over Snapchat, but alleged it was a mistake.

A panel of the Teacher’s Regulation Authority concluded on balance “he knew what he was doing and that his actions were deliberate”.

Mr Osborne also admitted engaging in an inappropriate conversation over social media, discussing condoms with another pupil.

The panel found he sent another pupil a picture of himself in his underwear.

During a school trip, he invited pupils into his bedroom to play the game Cards Against Humanity.

He was also found to have left a post-it note on his desk containing sexual references to “one or more” pupils.

The panel said: “[We] considered Mr Osborne’s conduct in respect of each allegation to be of a very serious nature, falling significantly short of the standard of behaviour expected of a teacher.

“The panel found all the allegations to be of a sexual nature.”

Mr Osborne was employed as a humanities teacher by the school but was sacked after an internal investigation.

The school informed the police, which confirmed it would not be proceeding with the investigation.

The Teacher’s Regulation Authority considered a letter from Mr Osborne, in which he acknowledged his wrongdoing and “lack of judgement”.

Mr Osborne is prohibited from teaching indefinitely in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.

A Sigma Trust spokesman said: “The Trust, and all our member schools, take any allegation of professional misconduct with the utmost seriousness. We acknowledge the findings of the Teaching Regulation Agency.”

He has the right to appeal the decision.