A former Medway teacher has been banned from the profession after being found with an indecent image of a child.

Robert Harrington, 40, taught English at St John Fisher Catholic School in Chatham from July 2014 and was subsequently promoted to deputy head of English, but resigned in May 2016 after being arrested and cautioned by police.

Details of the case came to light in a report published on behalf of the Education Secretary this week, following a professional conduct hearing in February.

The report states internet search engine Yahoo initially notified police that Harrington had accessed illegal material on the internet in March 2016, and that the teacher had subsequently stated he felt “very stupid” in relation to the activity and deeply regretted his actions.

Although Harrington did not attend February’s hearing, the panel accepted some statements from him in mitigation.

A report said: “Mr Harrington’s statement states he has suffered from health issues, his actions did not harm any individual, and that they did not constitute an abuse of his position of trust as a teacher.

“He also states his behaviour was motivated by a desire to report others who were distributing illegal material on the internet. However, there is no independent verification of this as Mr Harrington was not present at the hearing, called no witnesses and submitted no documentary evidence to support these statements.”

In summarising the decision of the panel, on behalf of the secretary, the report says Harrington’s conduct “fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession”, and his actions amounted to “unacceptable professional conduct”.

It concludes: “In my view it is both in the public interest and proportionate to impose a prohibition order with no review period.

“This means Mr Robert Harrington is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.”

It also states Harrington is “not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach”.

The chair of governors of St John Fisher Catholic School said: “We take all allegations of a member of staff acting inappropriately extremely seriously. It would be inappropriate to comment on the particular case.”

Medway Council did not wish to comment on the case.