‘Lifetime’ ban for disgraced teacher
A teacher with a career spanning 40 years has been banned from the classroom for life after police found photographs of teenage boys in swimwear at his home.
David Dawson worked at Egerton Rothesay School in Berkhamsted for more than two years after lying about his work history to get the job.
The 66-year-old failed to disclose his time as a deputy headteacher at a primary school, where he smacked a pupil in June 1993.
On Friday the Teaching Agency found Dawson guilty of ‘unacceptable professional conduct’ and Secretary of State Michael Gove issued a prohibition order banning him from teaching for life.
Dawson was a maths teacher at Egerton Rothesay from September 2002 to December 2004, and the hearing was told that police believed he had taken or been in possession of photos of teenage boys in swimwear in 1996, 1998 and 2004.
He was given a suspended jail sentence and ordered to pay costs after being charged with deception.
Steven East, a director of the company that runs the Berkhamsted school, said this week: “We were not sorry to see him go.”
He said Dawson hit a pupil on the shoulder during an exam in May 2004, earning a written warning.
The panel ruled that this did not count as unacceptable professional conduct after Dawson said he had just ‘tapped’ the child.
Police found images taken without parental permission on beaches unrelated to school or team activities and at swimming galas.
Police intelligence from 1996 suggested the subjects were unaware of being photographed, and many of the snaps focused on the genital area.
The panel said: “When the police involvement brought these matters to his attention it appears there was no change in his conduct.”
In August 2008, Dawson was arrested at a beach in Bournemouth for taking pictures of children without consent.
Mr East said: “We regret taking him on, but this is now all ancient history. He left eight years ago.
“What you can never check on a CV is what’s not there.
“But all the checks with the CRB and Teaching Council were done and they did not reveal anything.”
He said that CRB only has a record if a case is taken to court and that had not happened at the time he was employed by the school.
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Wednesday 22 May 2013
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