Head teacher banned over sex messages to fake teen

The Teaching Regulation Agency ruled Matthew Coombs could no longer be a teacher

A former head teacher has been banned from the profession after sending explicit messages and photos to an undercover police officer posing as a teenage boy.

Matthew Coombs, 52, communicated with the decoy account on the Grindr social media platform while working at the Hartest Church of England Primary School in Suffolk.

Despite being told the boy was 14 years old, Coombs arranged to meet the fake teen at Cineworld in Ipswich before being arrested at his home in Wetherden Road, Elmswell.

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) prohibited him from teaching indefinitely, two years after he admitted attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.

There was no suggestion Coombs targeted any pupils at his school.

Coombs was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court in May 2023, but has only just been officially banned from teaching

Coombs, who started his employment as head teacher at the school in January 2017, messaged the account over a 10-day period between 10 and 20 February 2020.

Unbeknown to Coombs, however, he was actually speaking with an undercover officer authorised to engage with individuals who may have a sexual interest in children.

Following his arrest on 20 February 2020, Coombs was convicted at Ipswich Magistrates' Court on 16 December 2022 after admitting the offence.

He was sentenced to a two-year community order at Ipswich Crown Court on 15 May 2023 and a sexual harm prevention order for five years was made.

He was also ordered to sign the sex offenders' register for five years.

'Risk of repetition'

After considering whether to ban Coombs from teaching, the TRA said it did not accept his account that he had been "naïve" and "incredibly stupid".

The panel also said it did not accept his submission that he was unaware the individual was a child, not that the use of excessive alcohol justified his actions.

After noting concerns in the report "about the risk of repetition" if Coombs was to remain in the profession, the TRA ruled he would never be permitted to teach again.