Off my bucket list . . . teacher’s vile boast after ‘sex with pupil’
Text brag about girl, 17, on school trip
‘Shocked and visibly upset’
A TEACHER had sex with a 17-year-old girl on a school trip, then boasted to a colleague he could ‘cross it off my bucket list’, a disciplinary panel heard.
Geography master Daniel Rickard, 32, allegedly took the girl to a hostel basement after staying up drinking beer until 6am.
The father of two made the ‘bucket list’ remark in a text in which he added: ‘Worse thing is in the same situation I’d probably do it again ;) lol.’
Yesterday Rickard denied having sex with the sixth former, referred to as Pupil A. He told a fitness to practise hearing his boasts were ‘merely banter’.
The incident is said to have happened in February 2016 on the last night of a five-day trip to Berlin involving 40 pupils from Cynffig Comprehensive in Bridgend, South Wales.
Although there was a no alcohol policy on the trip, Rickard started drinking in the hostel bar. Later, he joined a group of sixth formers and played cards until the early hours. It is claimed he then found Pupil A sitting on the stairs. She was ‘flirty’ and they went to the basement where she allegedly performed a sex act on him before they had intercourse.
He returned to his room at 6am and told colleague Paul Hicks: ‘You know Pupil A? I’ve just smashed her.’
Presenting officer Cadi Dew told the Cardiff hearing: ‘Later that day he offered a significant amount of information about his conduct.
‘He said he had thought about the consequences only after the event. He asked Mr Hicks to keep quiet.’ The Education Workforce Council panel was told Rickard and the teenager went to the basement because they knew it had no CCTV cameras.
Giving evidence, Mr Hicks said: ‘He said that after all the other pupils had gone to bed, Pupil A had become flirty. He went to the toilet and found Pupil A sitting on the stairs. He said she removed her top. He said they went to the basement because there was no CCTV and that the condom was supplied by Pupil A.’ Mr Hicks said he was upset by his friend and colleague’s behaviour, adding: ‘I was deeply troubled by it.
‘I knew I had to report what he had told me.’
Police investigated Rickard but decided there was no criminal conduct. He faces being struck off if found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.
Rickard denied having sex with the girl and told the hearing: ‘On the stairs she said she was hot and removed her jumper. I said it was not a good idea and she should wait until she got to her room before removing clothing. At no time was there any physical, sexual or inappropriate conduct.
‘I made my error of judgment in my conversations with Paul Hicks … I did make a statement I’m not proud of. But it was male bravado, made with a wink and a wry smile. There was no substance to it.’
He said the only physical contact was the ‘half-second’ when Pupil A brushed his leg.
Headmistress Hannah Castle told the panel Rickard was ‘shocked and visibly upset’ when she suspended him pending an investigation. ‘Diligent and conscientious’ Pupil A was left distressed and anxious in the run up to her A-levels, she said.
Mrs Castle spoke to the girl’s mother, who did not think anything sexual had occurred.
‘But she said it was entirely inappropriate that they were drinking together and that inappropriate things were said to her daughter.’
The panel was told that Pupil A, now at university, denied anything sexual had happened when she was interviewed by police.
The hearing continues.