BBC
A Teaching Regulation Agency panel considered claims of unacceptable professional conduct
A former teacher has been banned from the profession indefinitely after he was found to have engaged in inappropriate and sexually motivated behaviour towards a pupil.
James Wall, who taught at Lucton School in Herefordshire from 2013 until his resignation in August 2022, was accused of unacceptable professional conduct.
His actions included sending messages of a “sexual nature” to a pupil, requesting photographs, giving expensive gifts, and making physical contact that breached professional boundaries, a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel found.
The panel also found he asked the pupil to delete messages, behaviour it described as “dishonest and lacking integrity.”
While teaching at the independent school, between July and August 2022, Mr Wall reportedly asked to follow the pupil on Instagram.
During an interview with the school, he had described messages, that were personal and of a sexual nature, as “banter” and a “grey area.”
Within a four-year period, Mr Wall reportedly touched the pupil inappropriately by grabbing her waist and not taking sufficient care to avoid touching her breasts.
In a witness statement, the pupil said: “Sometimes he would also brush past my breasts and claim it was an accident, making a giggly remark about boobs, yet again I thought this was being brotherly.”
In response, the former music director acknowledged the incident did happen but said it was “unintentional”.
The TRA panel also found that in not reporting the incident, Mr Wall again had broken the school’s Code of Conduct.
The Secretary of State for Education has accepted the panel’s recommendation, imposing a prohibition order with no review period, meaning Mr Wall is banned from teaching in any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation, or children’s home in England.
The decision cited safeguarding concerns and the need to maintain public confidence in the profession.
Mr Wall has the right to appeal to the High Court within 28 days.