A BRILLIANT young teacher who was allowed to carry on working with children despite his "heavy petting" flirtation with a teenage girl pupil has fought off a High Court bid to ban him from the classroom.

Language teacher Kevin Philliskirk, 26, from North Yorkshire, was returning home from a school coach trip to Germany when the girl sitting next to him said she fancied him.

He told her he was having marriage problems and, although he said there was no question of their having a relationship, they engaged in mutual touching, initiated by her.

After returning home, they met twice more before agreeing that what was happening was wrong. They kissed and touched, but did not have sex, although she wanted it.

When he confessed to his headmaster and the police got to know about it, the girl, who was fond of him, refused to make a complaint.

In June last year, the then Education Secretary Alan Johnson banned Mr Philliskirk from working with children because of his misconduct.

But in May, a Care Standards Tribunal allowed an appeal by the teacher, saying it was not satisfied the restriction was appropriate or proportionate and that public confidence would not be breached by the lifting of the ban.

The Secretary for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, appealed to the High Court, complaining that the tribunal had broken procedural rules by taking into account additional information that had not been available to his predecessor.

Mr Philliskirk, of Scarborough, was in court to hear Mr Justice Collins reject the argument.

The judge said the appeal was no more than an attempt to overturn a decision which the Secretary of State felt was inappropriate because it did not accord with his own opinion.

The tribunal had not taken account of fresh material and was entitled to form its own view, he said.

Mr Philliskirk, who has a first class honours degree in German, had told the tribunal he was now completing a post-graduate course in translation and did not intend to return to teaching, but was concerned that he might be asked to go to schools in the future, for example to promote language learning.

He was working at Beckfoot School, Bingley, West Yorkshire, at the time of his inappropriate relationship with the girl in 2006.

He accepted a police caution for engaging in sexual activity with a person under 18 when in a position of trust and resigned from his job before an investigation by the school was completed.

Reports concluded that his behaviour was largely the result of emotional immaturity rather than a sexually predatory nature and that any risk he presented to children was low.

His headmaster described him as "outstanding" - "well-organised, conscientious, very caring and with excellent exam results". He ran clubs and activities and supported school trips.

Mr Philliskirk, praised for his remorse and total honesty about the whole affair, had told the tribunal: "I don't deny what I did was wrong, terrible and I wouldn't do it again. I am not a danger to children."

His already troubled relationship with his wife, to whom he had confessed, has since ended.

Mr Justice Collins said today: "Of course, any sexual involvement between a teacher and a pupil is to be taken seriously and dealt with in a manner which indicates to all concerned that it is recognised as unacceptable.

"No teacher who engages in such conduct will be permitted to continue in teaching while any risk of repetition remains.

"But this is not a punishment for misconduct; it is for the protection of pupils.

"In the circumstances of this case, the judgment exercised by the tribunal was one it was entitled to exercise in the way it did."