A PE teacher has had an unfounded harassment claim removed from his criminal record after a court ruled that it was a breach of his right to a private life.
Police in Cumbria had previously refused to remove the accusation from the 44-year-old's 'criminal record certificate', a document available to potential employers.
The Telegraph reports that the teacher's career was destroyed when he was accused of harassing an 18-year-old female pupil in 2010.
She had told the police that the teacher had bumped into her in a pub and had hugged her and pressed her chest to him 'four or five times'. She also alleged that he whispered: "I want you to come round to mine - two hours - £200 every month."
The man denied 'having spoken to or even seen' the pupil, and the police concluded that no further action should be taken.
In a written ruling, Mr Justice Stuart-Smith accused the police of a 'disproportionate and unjustifiable' breach of the teacher's right to private life with the complaint remaining on file.
The court heard that when the unnamed man applied for a post as a supply teacher months after the accusations were made, a member of staff at the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB), contacted one of the investigating officers, PC Anita Owen.
In a later CRB request, the same officer suggested she believed the teenager's allegation and that the teacher was guilty of harassing her. Michelle Skeer - then assistant chief constable - subsequently authorised Enhanced Criminal Record Certificate disclosure.
The judge said this dealt a 'killer blow' to the teacher's employment prospects after he left the school, and ordered for the allegation to be removed.