A HAMPSHIRE teacher who talked to pupils about sex, mocked others and pulled a girl around class by her tie has been banned from teaching for almost two years.

Sean Riordan has been suspended from teaching anywhere for 20 months after a professional standards body ruled his actions were “entirely unacceptable”.

The maths teacher, who also had a previous conviction for assaulting a woman, discussed explicit pornography and a sexual act with pupils, and suggested one girl had a connection with Southampton’s red light district.

A misconduct panel at the General Teaching Council for England (GTC) said they were so worried by Mr Riordan’s actions that he had to be temporarily removed from the profession to save its reputation.

Mr Riordan was only at Chamberlayne College for the Arts, in Weston, for a single term at the end of 2008 – the third of his first year as a teacher – but was repeatedly warned his behaviour was inappropriate.

He complimented a Year 10 girl that her eye shadow looked “really good”, and asked another who had a hole in her trousers: “who’s been trying to rip your clothes off ?”

Mr Riordan also made fun of one youngster’s red hair, cupping his hands over the boy’s head and making reference to how much heat the hair supposedly gave off.

He was also found to have acted inappropriately towards a pupil after he pulled her around class by her tie.

The three members of the GTC’s misconduct panel heard evidence from Chamberlayne’s deputy head, Sarah Holt, as well as admissions from Mr Riordan himself.

They wrote in their findings: “We consider Mr Riordan’s conduct to be serious and we have concluded that such conduct places at risk the reputation of the profession.

“Mr Riordan’s language and actions towards pupils and his assault in 2006 was entirely unacceptable.

“Mr Riordan shows little insight into the boundaries and conduct of his relationships with pupils.”

The suspension means he is not allowed to teach at any school before January 2012, and the ruling will remain on his record after that.

The GTC panel added: “Such an order marks our view as to the serious nature of the profession.

“Furthermore it will give Mr Riordan a period of time to enable him to reflect on his actions and take appropriate steps should he decide to return to teaching.”

Chamberlayne’s head teacher Chris Kelly declined to comment on the case.