Graham Coyle, who was a teacher at the private Christian River School until 2017, has been banned from teaching following a misconduct panel after multiple allegations
A “sexually motivated” school teacher asked a pupil to send photos of her prom dress, hid in her parents’ garden to avoid detection, and even made a secret code with the girl, a misconduct panel found.
Graham Coyle, who was a teacher at the private Christian River School in Worcester until 2017, was banned from teaching for serious misconduct and bringing the profession into disrepute, after a misconduct panel found he sent creepy messages to a Year 11 student, whom he called a “gorgeous young lady”.
Mr Coyle gave the pupil his personal phone number, promised to meet her outside of the school premises, used terms of affection in messages, and met her at her parents’ house, the panel found.
Mr Adrian Parsonage, Headteacher at The River School, told The Mirror he was “deeply shocked and appalled by the conduct of a former member of our school staff”.
According to the former pupil, Mr Coyle came to her house to take a picture of them together in July 2010, when he quickly fled into the garden after a cleaner came into the home.
The pupil told the hearing: “We were in the garden and had a camera on a timer. We were stood side by side with our arms around each other in a hug, trying to take a picture when a cleaner came into the house. Mr Coyle panicked and hid in the garden when he heard the cleaner come in.
“I went into the house and said hello to the cleaner. Mr Coyle then realised that she was an old pupil. He relaxed and came in to say hello. I remember hiding the photo deep in my computer so that my mum would never find it, but I have not been able to retrieve the photograph.”
It was also revealed that the teacher and pupil had a special codeword – “squish” – which signalled the girl was ‘safe’ to message and her parents weren’t around.
The panel heard how the teacher asked the young girl to send him pictures of the different types of dresses she might wear to her prom in 2010.
After the teenager sent a picture of her prom outfit, Coyle responded: “You are a gorgeous young lady, sunshine but don’t let on that I think so. My secret haha.”
Coyle admitted he had matched his tie to her prom outfit because it was “sweet” and would reinforce their friendship.
Mr Coyle gave the pupil his personal number, sending messages using terms of affection, meeting her outside of the school premises and, discussing what sex would be like for her when she found a partner.
The former pupil told the hearing she felt “ashamed” and had a “lot of guilt” following her communications with her teacher. She wrote in her witness statement: “I found this level of contact to be both exciting (because I felt important to him) and overwhelming (because I felt we were doing something ‘wrong’ although he said it was okay). He was an authority figure in our school and church and I trusted him to be a good and upstanding person.”
The school’s headteacher commended the former pupil for speaking up, and said the school was committed to making every pupil feel safe.
Mr Adrian Parsonage, Headteacher at The River School, told the Mirror: “We are deeply shocked and appalled by the conduct of a former member of our school staff. The allegations relate to historic incidents between 2009 and 2014. When we were first notified of these historical allegations in 2023 we contacted the Police, the LADO (Local Area Designated Officer), the Teacher Regulatory Agency and the Charity Commission. While Mr Coyle has not been part of our school for some time, we take matters of safeguarding with the utmost seriousness.
“The safety and well-being of our pupils remain our highest priority. We have robust safeguarding policies and procedures in place to ensure a safe and supportive environment for all students. We continue to work closely with the relevant authorities to uphold the highest standards of professional conduct in education.
“We recognise the courage it takes to come forward in such cases and commend the former pupil for speaking up. We remain committed to ensuring that every young person feels safe, supported, and heard and encourage anyone with concerns to report them through the appropriate channels.”
Mr Coyle has been banned indefinitely from teaching in England following the misconduct hearing in March, after 14 of the 15 allegations were proven. The panel found his actions were “sexually-motivated”, although Mr Coyle denied that.
The misconduct report read: “The panel concluded that the appropriate inference to draw was that Mr Coyle was sexually motivated towards [the pupil], either that he was seeking sexual gratification or a future sexual relationship.
“The panel concluded it was more likely than not Mr Coyle was seeking and derived sexual gratification from the intimacy of the relationship, which had an air of fantasy.”