Cardiff lecturer Russell Oakley let off with three-month teaching ban after claiming teen he had year-long affair with ‘led him on’
A panel found the affair "unacceptable professional conduct" but Russell Oakley will teach again after Christmas
A LECTURER who had an affair with a teenage pupil has got a three-month teaching ban after claiming she led him on.
Russell Oakley, 38, said he had been offered another job despite being sacked for having sex with the 18-year-old.
He claimed he was stressed by divorce when his pupil found him on a dating site and they began a year-long affair.
He said: "It was the most stressful time of my life. I was going through a divorce, trying to buy a house and worrying about my children.
"It was during this period [the student] made contact with me via a dating website.
"It lifted my spirits and made me feel good about myself. She was a funny and intelligent person and the relationship was a welcome distraction from my problems."
But he said once he started to have doubts, the student pressured him to stay with her and threatened to cause problems for him at work.
He admitted that it was a bad decision to start the relationship, and not to tell bosses at the Cardiff and Vale College in Barry about it.
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Dad-of-two Oakley begged the Education Workforce Council disciplinary panel in Cardiff not to strike him off after the panel heard he had been "dishonest".
Chair Sheila Drayton decided he should be allowed to teach again.
But she added: “This was unacceptable professional conduct.”