A TEACHER who viewed pornographic websites at work and put the images on a class projector in front of young pupils has been banned from teaching.

Andrew Milewski, now 29, was working as a teacher at Wetherby High School when he searched the internet for pornographic images and, on one occasion, projected them to a room of Year Seven children.

Over “a significant period of time” Milewski was not supervising his class adequately and was viewing inappropriate images including pornographic websites and porn star biographies, a hearing of the General Teaching Council for England (GTCE) heard.

Kathy Thomson, the chairman of the panel at the GTCE, said: “We consider that accessing pornography within a school classroom when pupils are present is a fundamental and serious breach of the standards that a teacher should observe and the public are entitled to expect.

“By doing so Mr Milewski failed to put the well-being and development of the children first… We note that he was responsible for a class of 11-year-old children, some of whom were able to see some of the images that he had accessed on the class projector.”

The panel said it was claimed that Milewski, who did not attend the hearing in Birmingham, showed “insight and remorse” over his actions but there was no “hard evidence” to back this up.

Milewski, who has bipolar disorder, told the governors that he did not think through the consequences of what he was doing because he was not on his medication, the hearing was told.

The panel found that Milewski should have quickly informed Wetherby High School, where he was employed in 2008 and 2009, that he had bipolar disorder as he was not obliged to tell them.

Milewski was also found to have sent an offensive text message to the head teacher of The English School in Fahaheel, in Kuwait, when he was rejected for the position of English teacher in 2009.

The panel struck Milewski off the teaching register for an indefinite period of time, stating that he must not apply for permission to teach again for at least two years.

He has a right to appeal to the High Court within 28 days.

Nigel Richardson, director of children’s services at Leeds City Council, said: “The school acted quickly and responsibly in initiating disciplinary procedures which resulted in this member of staff’s dismissal.

“The school then referred the matter to the regulatory authorities to take the action they deemed appropriate.

“We expect our teachers to maintain high standards and professional conduct at all times. At no time were the students at Wetherby High at risk.”