• Do YOU have a story? Email William.G.Hallowell@dailymail.co.uk
• See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source

An Afghan refugee working as a maths teacher who told a teenage girl he would find her the 'perfect boyfriend' has kept his job.

Jamil Wali exchanged more than 200 emails with the 'vulnerable' schoolgirl, some of which were sent as late as 11pm, telling her 'I am always here' and 'I got your back'.

An employment tribunal has now ruled that the teacher's conduct went 'well beyond' what was expected of him.

Mr Wali's relationship with the pupil was labelled 'highly personal' and 'inappropriate' by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).

The Afghan national, who came to Britain as a refugee aged seven and taught at King's Leadership Academy in Liverpool, had admitted his relationship with the schoolgirl was excessive and inappropriate.

But he denied it was 'sexual' and the tribunal ruled this allegation was 'not proved'. He has been allowed to continue teaching.

The TRA heard that Mr Wali shared details of previous romantic relationships with the pupil.

In one email, he said: 'I used to be obsessed with certain someone for such a long time...until one day I woke up and chose violence and deleted her.'

Jamil Wali, an Afghan national who came to Britain as a refugee aged seven, worked as a maths teacher at King's Leadership Academy in Liverpool. He is a former pupil of the school

Mr Wali, who began teaching at the academy in September 2022 after previously attending as a pupil, also called the teenager 'bro', 'mate' and 'wasteman' as well as telling her: 'U can come to me with the same problem 1,000 times'.

Between January and March 2024, the maths teacher exchanged a total of 204 emails with the schoolgirl.

Safeguarding concerns were raised at the academy when its IT systems generated alerts over the 'significant volume of email communication' between the two.

A colleague at the school told the hearing that 'over 200 emails had been exchanged and that a number of these were identified by the safeguarding team as a cause for concern due to their informal and over familiar nature', according to tribunal documents.

Mr Wali told the tribunal in evidence that he was not aware that teaching staff were required not to email pupils outside school hours despite saying some of his pupils had sent him emails as late as 10pm or 11pm.

The TRA ruled that Mr Wali should not be banned from teaching in part due to the 'positive contribution' he could still make to the profession.

The tribunal found that banning the teacher would not be proportionate or in the public interest.

The TRA panel said: 'The overall circumstances of the case, including the level of insight demonstrated, the significant remedial steps taken, the low risk of repetition, the absence of any finding of conduct of a sexual nature, and the absence of evidence of actual harm to Pupil A, weighed against recommending prohibition.'