Ban for teacher who upskirted pupils

A teacher misconduct panel has ruled Stuart Norris should be barred from the profession for good

A maths teacher has been banned from the profession after filming videos up pupils' skirts.

Stuart Norris recorded footage of girls aged 14 and 15 while they were taking their mock GCSEs.

During Leicestershire Police's investigation into the teacher, tech experts also found numerous illegal child pornography images from the internet, including animated cartoon images of children, with some kept in files called "Sexy Schoolgirls" and "Young".

Norris, of Fenny Drayton, Nuneaton, pleaded guilty to a number of offences and received a suspended 10-month sentence for his actions.

The offences included two counts of voyeurism of underage girls and two counts of possessing indecent images of children – which related to dozens of pictures and videos, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

He also pleaded guilty to one count of having a prohibited image.

Norris, who taught at Thomas Estley Community College in Broughton Astley, was also ordered to spend 40 days with probation officers, a further 90 days on the Horizon programme for sex offenders, and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Norris was then jailed on 25 July 2023 for breaching the terms of that sentence.

'Exploited his position'

In a decision published earlier this week, a teacher misconduct panel ruled the 51-year-old should be barred from the profession for good.

Panel members found that Norris's actions were "clearly deliberate", adding they had not been provided with "any evidence of remorse or insight" into the reason for his behaviour.

Norris did not attend the meeting, having asked for the decision to be made without a full hearing, but had signed a statement of agreed facts and admitted his conviction.

The panel said Norris had "sought to exploit his position of trust" through his actions.

Public confidence in the profession would be weakened if such behaviour was "not treated with the utmost seriousness", members added.

They advised he should be barred from the profession without any right to apply for the ban to be lifted.

Mandi Collins, principal of Thomas Estley Community College, said managers acted "immediately on the day of the allegations" and the welfare of our students "is our utmost priority".

She added: "That individual has not been employed by the school since 2021, and we have cooperated fully with the police, local authority and teacher regulation agency throughout their investigations and decisions."