A HEARING into an Essex teacher accused of grooming an underage girl has concluded following a meeting of the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).

A panel met over five days in Warwick last week to consider the allegations made against Colin Yeomans, a PE teacher at a school in south Essex from 1996 until 2020.

Yeomans, of Great Notley, was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing after he stood trial in Chelmsford Crown Court in 2020.

The former pupil who accuses Yeomans of grooming her, referred to throughout the hearing as Pupil A, gave evidence on the first day of the hearing and was cross-examined by Yeomans’s solicitor.

Pupil A was questioned about a statement where she said she had accompanied Yeomans to London in early 2004 when he had to renew his passport.

Official papers showed, however, that Yeomans’s passport had been renewed in County Durham, prompting his solicitor to ask Pupil A: “This didn’t happen, did it?”

Pupil A replied: “It did happen.”

The hearing concluded on Friday, January 12.

If the allegations against Yeomans are proved, the professional conduct panel’s conclusion will be published within two weeks. If not, the panel’s findings will be published only at the request of the teacher.