Teacher banned for 'aggressive behaviour'

Barry Wilson was a former teacher at Dyke House Academy

A teacher has been banned for at least four years for various offences including threatening to smash a car's windows and failing to tell his school that he had been arrested for it.

Barry Wilson, a former teacher at Dyke House Academy in Hartlepool, also went to school one day smelling of alcohol, the Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA) said.

He admitted unacceptable professional misconduct.

The TRA said that while Mr Wilson's misconduct was serious, "it was not so serious so as not to ever be remediable".

Mr Wilson admitted he had threatened to smash the car windows of a person, named as Person A, on 16 June 2021.

The teacher told the panel this had happened when he was in an "extremely vulnerable and isolated position", according to the TRA report.

He also admitted kicking and causing damage to the front door of Person A on 21 September 2021.

He told the TRA that this had occurred in the context of an unspecified illness and his vulnerable position at the time.

Mr Wilson failed to tell his school that he had been arrested for both offences, the TRA said. He told the panel this was because he had felt "ashamed".

The panel also found Mr Wilson went to work on 22 January 2021 smelling of alcohol.

Mr Wilson admitted going to work smelling of alcohol but said this was because he had drunk heavily the previous night.

Serious misconduct

The TRA said the teacher's misconduct was serious as it included "violent and aggressive behaviour as well as behaviour that lacked honesty and integrity".

It also said Mr Wilson had not recognised the "severity and impact" his actions had had on others such as Person A, nor how his behaviour could affect the "profession as whole".

But taking into account the fact Mr Wilson had taken steps to address his behaviour, the panel banned him from teaching for at least four years.

After 5 July 2028, Mr Wilson can apply for the teaching prohibition order to be set aside, they said.

"This is not an automatic right to have the prohibition order removed," the TRA added.