A TEACHER cleared by a jury of groping a pupil spoke last night of his "18 months of hell" that devastated his life and left his career in ruins.

Joseph Kerr, a drama teacher at a Darlington comprehensive, has been suspended from his job since the teenage girl alleged he touched her.

The 44-year-old said he had been forced to leave the region and has no plans to return because of the ordeal - but he vowed to continue teaching.

He told The Northern Echo: "I have had 18 months of hell. I had to leave Darlington because of this.

"I am still not teaching. All this about being innocent before being proven guilty is rubbish. Once you are suspended and not at school, people talk. My life as far as teaching there is done.

"My career is destroyed at that school."

Last week, the teacher, who is a former actor, was found not guilty of two counts of sexual activity with a child at Teesside Crown Court.

A 15-year old girl claimed he had touched her bottom and made sexual remarks towards her when he helped her with her GCSE performing arts exam at the Darlington comprehensive.

She also alleged that he touched her again in a corridor the next day.

The teacher's barrister accused the girl, now 17, of making up the allegations to try to get her exam postponed because she had not prepared for it.

A jury returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty on both counts, which the girl had alleged were committed in November 2004.

Mr Kerr was put on leave from his job and had to face two trials after the first court case was halted in November last year for legal reasons.

Education officials said it was up to the school's governors to decide whether he returned to the comprehensive, but Mr Kerr said he had made a new life for himself out of the area and would not return.

The teacher, who previously worked for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, said he hoped to return to teaching but would never work in a comprehensive again.

He said: "My record was exemplary. Ofsted recommended the school give me a post.

"I understand procedures for the protection of children - but for God's sake let's be sensible about it.

"It was a normal class environment, there was plenty of people around.

"This pupil had an axe to grind.

"Some pupils think they can go into school now and do what they like. If they don't like their teacher, they can make up allegations.

"There is no retribution for the child. At the end of all this, after 18 months and the cost to the taxpayer of two trials, nothing will be done about the false allegations. Nobody thinks about the devastation it causes."

Mr Kerr, formerly of Abbey Road, Darlington, but now living in the Blackpool area, is hoping to work in further education.

Giving evidence during his trial, Mr Kerr said it was easier for a pupil to remove a teacher from a school than the other way around.

He branded the girl's account as "complete and utter rubbish".

The teacher, who has worked in TV soap Emmerdale, added: "I want to bring this to a close. I want to get back to my life."

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