Teacher banned over breaking man's leg outside bar

Jonathan Drew started teaching at Westbury Academy in 2016

A teacher who broke a man's leg when he stood on it outside a bar has been banned from the profession.

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) has ruled Jonathan Drew, 36, is prohibited from teaching indefinitely, with a review period of four years.

This comes after Drew pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent at Nottingham Crown Court in 2022 after injuring the man in December 2019, when he was a teacher in Nottingham.

The TRA said: "The panel finds that the conduct of Mr Drew fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession."

'Isolated' and 'uncharacteristic'

The professional conduct panel heard on 20 December 2019, a member of the public had been removed from a bar and restrained by door staff.

Drew "involved himself in the incident by standing on this individual's legs, which resulted in injury to this individual, which subsequently required this individual to undergo surgery," the panel heard.

Drew was teaching at Westbury Academy, in Bilborough, Nottingham, at the time.

The TRA report, which was published this week, heard he told police and the school's head teacher about his involvement in the incident, which he said had no bearing on his ability to work with children.

Drew said it was "isolated" and "uncharacteristic", and not directly linked in any way to his profession.

The school contacted the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) - which manages allegations against adults who work with children - and the police and "it was agreed that [he] would continue working with the school as [he] posed no threat to the children or staff".

This remained the case until the charges were brought against him in 2022, the TRA heard.

In August 2022, Drew admitted the offence, and in the October, he was handed an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.

He was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, pay compensation of £6,000 and a victim surcharge of £14.

The panel noted the offences had taken place outside of the education setting and had not involved pupils or school staff.

"Nevertheless... the panel decided that Mr Drew's conviction, which included violence towards another member of the public, was relevant to his profession as a teacher," the report said.