Science teacher who swapped 2,000 flirty emails with schoolgirl, 15, including pics from his bed and asking what ‘might happen’ if they met in a sauna is banned from teaching for life
A science teacher who exchanged more than 2,000 flirty emails with a 15-year-old schoolgirl and fantasized about meeting her in a sauna has been banned from the classroom for life.
Alex Mohammed, 35, assistant head of science at Durrington High School in Worthing, West Sussex, was warned about being too friendly with a group of Year 11 girls in his class after school hours.
But he continued to secretly send thousands of inappropriate emails and photos to a group of girls in the evenings and weekends; Among these, there were also messages ‘suggesting sexual care’.
After the evidence emerged, the school contacted the police, who launched an investigation but did not file criminal charges. After this, Mr. Muhammad left his teaching profession to become an executive consultant.
Now, a panel has found Mr Mohammed should have raised security concerns about messages he sent to five female students and had a particularly perverted conversation with one of the girls, referred to as “Student A”.
The panel found that ‘very few’ of the more than 2,000 emails he shared with the girl between April 7, 2022, and May 13, 2022, when he was 31, could be considered professional.
These included conversations about ‘what might happen’ if they met in the sauna and informal conversations about the underage girl drinking alcohol.
At around 6:45 pm on May 11, she sent him a photo of herself in bed, and he responded with a photo of her in a robe.
Alex Mohammed, 35, worked as a science teacher at Durrington High School until 2022, when a school investigation revealed thousands of inappropriate emails.
It emerged that Mr Mohammed had failed to report safety concerns about five girls and had sent sexually explicit messages to a 15-year-old student.
He repeatedly complimented the 15-year-old’s appearance, telling her she looked ‘good’ and had ‘cute’ hair.
Mr Mohammed told her ‘I’m in bed’, at 12.37am he asked her ‘You haven’t gone to sleep yet’ and encouraged her to ‘wait until the summer when we can linger and we’re both unwell’.
The science teacher also said, ‘I’m glad you’re not with him anymore haha,’ referring to Student A’s ex-boyfriend.
She moaned that ‘he’s never actually been nice to me…not physically towards me anyway’ and asked her ‘not to be sarcastic about my figure’.
The panel found that messages from the five girls mentioned straining or feeling unwell at home, but Mr Mohammed responded with overly friendly remarks rather than raising safeguarding concerns as he should have done.
Mr Mohammed was warned in January 2022 that he was being ‘too informal’ when groups of mostly female Year 11 students gathered in his classroom, and was warned again for the same reason in May 2022.
Colleagues also objected to his behavior with the same group of 11th-grade girls at the prom on June 30.
The school launched an investigation, which included speaking to students and scanning the school’s email account; Here they uncovered some of the dangerous messages and handed them over to the police.
Police decided not to pursue criminal charges after reviewing evidence presented by the school
Ex-teacher admits timing and content of some emails were inappropriate
As of December 2022, police confirmed they would not pursue criminal proceedings, meaning the school was clear to continue investigating.
Mr Mohammed was interviewed during this process and he acknowledged that the timing and content of some of his emails were inappropriate.
The only allegation Mr Mohammed disputed was that his correspondence with Student A was of a sexual nature.
However, given the intensity of the messages and discussions such as being in bed, the panel concluded the messages ‘suggested sexual grooming’.
A recommendation was made to the Minister of Internal Affairs that Mohammed be banned from teaching for life.
