The man, who appeared in the Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, was also put on the Sex Offenders Register for a minimum of five years and banned from having any contact with his victim for five years.
Police legal adviser Lauren Hallam, prosecuting, said the victim had approached the police after receiving a number of inappropriate messages which left her feeling ‘awkward’.
She added that one of the first messages he sent to her, over Facebook, asked if she wanted to spend the night in the ‘Jacuzzi room’ at The Royal Yacht hotel before he withdrew his question, saying that the message was meant for his partner.
In other messages, he asked her if she wanted to ‘come and make love?’ and that the pair could ‘get together and f*** one day’.
She added: ‘He also sent a message saying, “I think you are really hot and want us to be together. Could you let me know? If not that is cool”.’
He was then arrested.
The man, who cannot be named in order to prevent identifying the victim, admitted the offences.
Advocate Matthew Jowitt, defending, said that his client had lost his career and his home, and that the inappropriate messages had been sent when he was drunk and swiftly retracted when he was sober.
Advocate Jowitt added: ‘This is a man who has demonstrated a significant degree of emotional immaturity for his age. He does have a drink-driving-related offence and a public-order matter but I would ask you to treat him as a non-offender.
‘This will be his last job as a teacher and the reality is that he will never teach again – and some will say rightly so.
‘That is already punishment for someone who is so good at their job. It is also worth noting that this has taken a long time to come to court and has been hanging over him.’
Advocate Jowitt asked for his client to be placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 12 months rather than the usual five years.
Relief Magistrate Sarah Fitz said that the offence had crossed the custodial threshold.
‘There is significant mitigation available – the early guilty plea, no previous convictions of a sexual nature, the letter of remorse and the fact that he is a very hard-working man and teacher,’ she said.
‘This has taken, not least, your job, your home, and it is worth noting that you have struggled with alcohol problems and, but for that, this offending may never have occurred.’
She added: ‘I consider this as a very serious matter and the law is in place to protect children and it is vital that the proper boundaries are respected.’
