Teacher barred following sexually inappropriate conduct
17/07/2025
“I have decided that Mr Smith shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach”
A former Warriner School teacher has been barred from teaching indefinitely after he sent inappropriate and “sexually motivated” messages to pupils.
Karl Smith had been employed as the Head of Computing at the school from September 2018.
In November 2022 a pupil raised a concern about communications she had seen between Smith and another pupil. The school began an investigation and Smith was suspended. Following a disciplinary hearing in January 2023 the school made a referral to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).
At a hearing this June a TRA panel saw a number of messages that had been sent between Smith and the pupil, with whom he had shared his own personal mobile phone number and email address.
In a discussion about Smith keeping chocolate back for the pupil he wrote: “You have to earn them… Begging for food and fluttering your eyelashes isn’t really earning them”, adding “You are very nice though, so that works in your favour… Maybe im just a sucker for a pretty face.”
Smith didn’t attend the panel meeting but did send in written representation.
He denied any sexual motivation to the messages, telling the panel: “I saw her as a little sister, and as such the conversations we had were similar to the sorts of conversations one might have in that situation. There was never any sexual intent behind any of the messages, only a desire to help a young person make a good start in life.”
The panel felt that whilst none of the evidence included actions which on their own could be said to be inherently or explicitly sexual in their nature, Smith’s actions had many of the hallmarks of someone in the early stages of pursuing inappropriate sexual relationships with pupils. The said: “In the absence of any credible alternative explanation from Mr Smith or being available from the evidence itself for these actions, the panel was satisfied that it was more likely than not that Mr Smith’s conduct was sexually motivated.”
Concluding his submission Smith wrote: “Even though I was not in my right mind at the time, it was still wrong and should never had happened. I deeply regret my part in all of this, not just because it has destroyed me mentally, but because of the impact that my actions have had on the young people affected. As stated above I am truly sorry for my conduct, which was professionally unacceptable.”
The panel considered that even though he had offered a level of apology, remorse and recognition of his misconduct, they were concerned that Smith’s insight was significantly lacking, adding that he “had offered no meaningful reflection on how he might put effective strategies in place to ensure such conduct is not repeated”.
On behalf of the Secretary of State, Sarah Buxcey decided that Smith should be barred from teaching indefinitely at any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. She added: “In view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved against him, I have decided that Mr Smith shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.”
Following the decision a spokesperson for the Warriner School said: “The Trust and School takes all safeguarding extremely seriously, with the safety of our students our priority. As soon as this was brought to our attention, we took swift action, seeking and following the advice of the Local Authority Designated Officer for Safeguarding and the police.
“As is recorded in the TRA professional conduct panel hearing, we began our own investigation and Mr Smith was suspended whilst this was undertaken. Following the disciplinary hearing on 11 January 2023, the School made a referral to the TRA on 21 February 2023, which resulted in the panel hearing.
“The School has engaged with the TRA process throughout.”
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
Reader's opinions
