An assistant headteacher was caught on camera kissing one of her pupils on a train while drunk.

Despite being seen kissing the 18-year-old, Rachel Clint has been allowed to remain in the profession.

The teacher, who is reportedly in her early 30s, was photographed by other students kissing the teen following a drunken night out at leavers' event, which included a free bar for staff.

Rachel Clint has been told she can continue to teach. Credit: Liverpool Echo

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The clip was shared around the school, and she was 'placed on gardening leave' from her job Merchant Taylors - a private school in Crosby, Merseyside, which costs pupils £11,000-a-year to attend - but has since been dismissed.

The Liverpool Echo reports that a hearing at the Teaching Regulation Agency ruled that Clint could still work as a teacher.

The panel found that her actions were 'not of a sexual nature', even though the teacher, who sat on the pupil's lap before kissing him, admitted they were.

The committee heard it was 'not suggested that Miss Rachel Clint's actions were sexually motivated, given that the evidence suggests that this was a spontaneous kiss which did not lead to any further intimacy'.

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Clint admitted that she had drank booze on an empty stomach and that she 'viewed this incident as a result of an error of judgement on her part'.

She accepted that she had 'demonstrated a lack of integrity in failing to report what had happened to the school' in the weeks following the kiss.

She told the panel: "I accept full responsibility for my actions, but I hope this isolated and out of character incident, and my lack of reporting, does not deny me a future in the profession."

Adding: "Teaching is my vocation; it is my identity."

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The TRA panel concluded: "However, in deciding not to impose a prohibition order from teaching, the panel said it had considered the 'very strong public interest consideration in retaining Ms Rachel Clint in the profession'."

The teacher has since been dismissed from her job at Merchant Taylor's sixth form. Credit: Google Maps

The panel also noted that Clint, who had worked as a teacher for 10 years, was described as an 'excellent role model' for pupils by the investigating officer and that she was dealing with 'personal issues' at the time.

Despite the decision from the Teaching Regulation Agency, Merchant Taylor's sacked her in April 2018, saying 'her conduct had fallen far below the standards that we require from our teachers'.

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One dad who sends his son to the school, told the Echo: "It might have seamed light-hearted, but this is a serious abuse of a position of trust between a boy, and a woman 15 years older than him.