The father of a boy who joined the ‘Mile-High club’ with his teacher on the flight home from a school trip today said the affair was only exposed after another pupil blackmailed them and told the headteacher.

The 16-year-old's dad says his son did not want physics miss Eleanor Wilson investigated over the relationship that has left her teaching career in tatters.

Speaking to MailOnline, the father, who cannot be identified, said: 'What I will say is he [the boy] didn't want any of this.

'He didn't want her to lose her job over it. The relationship was only uncovered when another pupil found out about it and blackmailed her for sex.

'He then told the school and from there it was the school who pursued the investigation, not my son.

'He didn't want her to lose her career. He's a young man who just wants to put this behind him and move on.'

Eleanor Wilson, 28, has been banned from the classroom for life after having unprotected sex in a toilet with a pupil on a flight home from a school trip

A boy who joined the ‘Mile-High club’ with his teacher Eleanor Wilson, pictured centre on the Swazliand trip, on the flight home from a school trip told his friends about their relationship and showed them her sexts

The fling with his physics teacher Miss Wilson, who was ten years his senior, during a two-week charity and conservation trip to Swaziland in Africa.

He was not – as previously reported - on the school’s trip earlier that month to Geneva, to visit the Large Hadron Collider in CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research.

The pupil was in a group of 15 to 18 year-olds who travelled to the southern African kingdom in July 2015 on a World Challenge Expedition, having fundraised £2,595 over the previous 18 months.

But charity was the last thing on the couple’s mind. The pupil told school friends he drank cheap whisky with his physics teacher Eleanor Wilson, now 28, and ended up in his room.

She kissed him ‘multiple times’ throughout the two-week trip, they said, and had unprotected sex in the toilet on the plane on their way home, after drinking miniature bottles of wine.

The friend told MailOnline: ‘He enjoyed telling me all about his time in Swaziland as you could go to a store and buy whisky for next to nothing. He said they had sex a lot on the trip to Africa and on the flight back.’

The group, from a school in Bristol, was staying with the Ndinda community at a Neighbourhood Care Point, which supported orphans of parents who had died of HIV, helping to build a kitchen for them.

‘The expedition has given me a new start, a fresh beginning. I’ve seen how a community can be so happy with so little and we were made to feel so welcome. Now I just want to get all the happiness and enjoyment out of everything I do,’ one pupil said afterwards.

According to his friend, the boy, now 18, had split with his girlfriend before the trip and was a Casanova. He claimed, he said, that he had already slept with about 15 girls before his teacher.

He said that the relationship continued after they got home – despite gossip at the school. ‘He was pleased with himself that he was sleeping with the teacher that everyone fancied,’ he said, ‘but he is confident and was already quite experienced with girls.

‘She would send him texts and he showed me the messages from her,’ he said. ‘He would text her and she would reply, "Can’t talk now, I’m in a meeting" or "I’m nervous about a presentation for assembly". She would sext him too and he showed me. I knew immediately they were genuine.'

Miss Wilson’s brother Jethro strongly denied that she had ever had sex with the student, adding that she had previously been ‘hassled’ by male students

Miss Wilson, from Keighley, West Yorkshire, was struck off this week after a tribunal hearing heard that she had been drinking miniature bottles of wine while flirting at the back of the plane home. She is then said to have entered the toilet, kissed, engaged in a sex act and had intercourse with the pupil without using any protection.

Giving evidence to a professional conduct panel, the sixth-former, known as Pupil A, said both were drunk on the flight in the summer of 2015.

Despite school gossip, the relationship continued as the pair texted and met for drinks. But in September that year, the headteacher heard rumours about the couple and quizzed Miss Wilson about them. After she denied improper behaviour, no further action was taken.

Giving evidence to a professional conduct panel, the sixth-former, known as Pupil A, said both were drunk on the flight in the summer of 2015

But seven months later, in March 2016, the relationship came to light, when another pupil tried to blackmail Miss Wilson, threatening to reveal the tryst unless she had sex with him.

The threats were reported to the school and police and a thorough investigation was conducted. Miss Wilson, who had a boyfriend at the time, was sacked in May 2016.

The friend added: ‘Rumours of the fling were flying around the school, everyone was talking about it. Miss Wilson was an exceptional teacher and she just made a mistake with a pupil.’

However, after the tribunal, Miss Wilson’s brother Jethro strongly denied that she had ever had sex with the student, adding that she had previously been ‘hassled’ by male students.

Speaking to MailOnline he defended his sister, claiming she was a victim of being 'good looking'.

'I know they made it up, because she was blackmailed,' he said. 'He made the story up and made it sound good. These teachers work hard all their life and go through years of courses and all it takes is one student to bring them down.

'There’s no doubt about it - he had a crush on her. They were away on an educational school trip and she didn’t want anything to do with them, so they made stories up about her.

'She'd already had enough of students giving her hassle because she was good looking. Good looking teachers get picked out by students and they get hard done by.'

At the earlier hearing, the National College for Teaching and Leadership disciplinary panel found Pupil A to be a credible, reliable witness and agreed with his version of events.

Miss Wilson, pictured on a wild west themed photoshoot while on holiday in Canada, is said to have entered the toilet, kissed, engaged in a sex act and had intercourse with the pupil

Miss Wilson was not present but the panel heard she had previously denied the pair kissed or had sex, and claimed they simply 'hugged on occasion'.

She admitted during the school's investigation that the pair had met and exchanged text messages but denied that they had drunk any alcohol, even though Pupil A had shown his teachers a receipt for ciders.

But following the two-day hearing, she was found guilty of all but two of the allegations against her.

Polly O'Malley, chairman of the professional conduct panel, said: 'There was evidence that the teacher's actions were deliberate and continued for a significant length of time despite her understanding that her behaviour was inappropriate.

'There was no evidence to suggest that the teacher was acting under duress.'

Striking Miss Wilson off from the profession, she added: 'These behaviours include serious dishonesty and serious sexual misconduct. The panel has found that Miss Wilson engaged in sexual activity with Pupil A on one occasion, including oral sex and sexual intercourse.

'Additionally the panel has found that Miss Wilson encouraged Pupil A to hide their relationship and lied about it herself when an investigation into the allegations was undertaken by the school.'

The name of the school and the name and age of Pupil A were not revealed at the hearing to protect his identity.

Miss Wilson was reported to the police, however it is not known whether officers had taken any action against her.

Miss Wilson, from Keighley, West Yorkshire, pictured, who had a boyfriend at the time, was sacked in May 2016

An Avon and Somerset spokesman said she voluntarily attended a police station for interview in 2016 and 'enquiries are ongoing'.

A spokesman for The Royal Navy said: 'It would be inappropriate to comment.'

A spokesman for the school, which is not being identified, said: 'We unreservedly condemn Ms Wilson’s actions. Her conduct represents a shocking abuse of her position of trust as a teacher,' according to The Sun.