June 2015 Teacher told schoolgirl ‘I wanted to f*** you silly’ – Banned from teaching A teacher who told a female pupil ‘I wanted to f*** you silly’ has been banned from Britain’s classrooms for life. Ian Jones, 40, told the girl her boyfriend was probably cheating on her and moaned he ‘wasn’t getting any’ because his marriage was on the rocks. He then tried to arrange a leaving party for himself and invited a group of female pupils to a Birmingham hotel for farewell drinks, the National College for Teaching and Leadership heard. But married Jones was reported by three of the ‘upset’ girls after he sent a series of offensive Facebook messages. Jones, who had been a teacher for a decade before Grace Academy, in Darlaston, West Midlands in February last year denied his conduct was ‘sexually motivated’. He admitted acting in the way alleged, but said he was stressed’ and the message to the girl should be seen as a ‘cry for help’. But a professional conduct panel found his behaviour over a three-day period was incompatible with working as a teacher. Panel chair Alison Walsh said: ‘We believe that the Facebook messages alone sent to Pupil A… provide unarguable evidence of Mr Jones’ motivation. ‘His stark final message to Pupil A ‘I wanted to f*** you silly’ allows no other possible conclusion to be drawn but that his conduct was sexually motivated. ‘To reach any other conclusion would be totally perverse. ‘We conclude that there has been a course of conduct towards Pupil A which is reflected in all the particulars that we have found proved and we reject Mr Jones’ explanation that the final offensive message should be seen only as a cry for help.’ The panel found his behaviour amounted to an ‘abuse of his position of trust and a violation of the rights of pupils’ and that his actions were ‘sexually motivated’. ‘All of those factors lead the panel to conclude that Mr Jones has demonstrated behaviour that is incompatible with him currently remaining a member of the teaching profession,’ Ms Walsh added. Department of Education official Alan Meyrick accepted the panel’s recommendation and banned Jones from teaching for life. ‘Mr Jones is guilty of a serious departure from the personal and professional elements of the Teachers’ Standards, abuse of his position of trust and a violation of the rights of pupils,’ he said. ‘In addition his actions were sexually motivated. All of those factors support me in my agreement with the panel that Mr Jones has demonstrated behaviour that is incompatible with him currently remaining a member of the teaching profession. Mr Meyrick continued: ‘I have noted that there was no physical contact with any of the pupils concerned in this case. ‘It is clear however that the pupils were all upset about what had happened and the
vice principal told the hearing they were in tears the next morning. ‘Mr Jones’ behaviour had a significant adverse effect on the young girls and Pupil A in particular. ‘Pupil A is described as being upset, angry and frightened by what had happened.’ He added: ‘This means that Mr Ian Jones is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. ‘Furthermore, in view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved against him, I have decided that Mr Ian Jones shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.’