A YOUNG teacher was suspended from her Welsh college job because she refused to have sex with her boss, a misconduct panel heard.

The IT teacher told how Stuart Ford, 51, called her "Little Miss Angelic" after giving her a job - then showered her with gifts and money while trying to seduce her.

But she told the disciplinary hearing how she rejected his advances - and department head Mr Ford suspended her "without reason" from the Coleg Gwent campus in Pontypool.

The woman in her early 20s - named only as Person A - told a misconduct hearing by videolink how Mr Ford gave her money including a deposit for a holiday and paid for her to have a new tattoo.

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He also took a bottle of Malibu to her home, would bring coffees into her classrooms and even offered to buy her a new mobile phone as he gave her attention.

She said: "I started to think that it wasn't a professional relationship and he was only interested in me because I was young and attractive."

The woman told how Mr Ford would repeatedly call her "Little Miss Angelic" and "Babe" in text messages after he gave her a job at Coleg Gwent despite her lack of teaching qualifications.

The former IT teacher said: "I thought he had developed feelings for me.

"I felt I was employed because he wanted a relationship with me and one that was physical in nature.

"When I was not going to give that to him he was trying to get rid of me."

The woman told the Educational Workforce Council hearing that Mr Ford suspended from her job at the college saying that a complaint had been made against her.

But she said Mr Ford gave her no details of the complaint and that no one gave her official notice of the suspension.

She said: "He did not want me at the college any more and I did not know how to deal with it.

"My suspension affected me a lot because couldn't understand what I could have done wrong."

The woman told how she suffered mental health problems following her suspension and that while later off sick Mr Ford made her redundant.

Mr Ford had worked at Coleg Gwent in Pontypool for 20 years and become head of school for business and construction before an investigation into his behaviour started in 2018.

Presenting officer Lisa Jones said college bosses received an anonymous complaint that Mr Ford was going AWOL during the school day and not doing his job.

She said: "Three members of staff raised further concerns as to how the business department was being run."

Ms Jones said Person A later contacted the college and requested to be interviewed as part of the investigation.

Mr Ford also faces a series of allegations of his running of the college's business school which if proved could see him struck from the teaching register.

Mr Ford is not attending the online hearing and is not represented but the panel heard he denies unacceptable professional conduct.

The Educational Workforce Council hearing continues.