AC-2024-LON-001202 and AC-2024-LON-001207 - [2025] EWHC 2810 (Admin)

Fecha: 31-Oct-2025

PCP proceedings concerning MD

PCP proceedings concerning MD

18.

In advance of the meeting of her PCP (which took place on 23 February 2024), MD asked for the allegation to be considered without a hearing, and provided a Statement of Agreed Facts admitting that she had been convicted of a relevant criminal offence (i.e. one that is relevant to a person’s fitness to be a teacher).

19.

MD made extensive written submissions to the PCP:

She said she was acting on the advice of the local authority and Ofsted.

ii)

Her conviction was due to irregularities and errors in evidence.

iii)

She challenged the evidence of the Ofsted inspectors as to the events on 12^th December 2018 and 5^th and 6^th March 2019.

iv)

She suggested that she had been wrongly convicted due to being “misrepresented and underrepresented”, and made various procedural complaints about the trial.

20.

The PCP in MD’s case found that she had been convicted of a s.96(2) offence (as noted above this was not disputed). The conduct which led to this conviction was found to be a breach of the Teachers’ Standards.

21.

MD made written submissions by way of mitigation. These expressed contrition, but blamed her offence on not having sought legal advice on the interpretation of the law and ambiguous guidance from the Department for Education. The suggestion that MD had been acting in accordance with local authority advice was repeated.

22.

The PCP considered what recommendation to make to the SSE so far as a prohibition order was concerned. Having reviewed the matter, the PCP recommended that a prohibition order be made with a 5-year review period.