Teacher banned for lying about football career

Aaron Smith had been a teacher at Co-op Academy in Bebington on the Wirral

A teacher has been banned from the profession after he falsely told his pupils he had played for England and Leicester City.

A teacher misconduct panel found Aaron Smith - who worked at the Co-Op Academy in Bebington on the Wirral - had provided false information while working at the school and in applications for jobs at two schools.

Following the hearing earlier this month, the panel found Mr Smith, 44, guilty of "unacceptable professional conduct", according to a report from the Teaching Regulation Agency.

A representative from the Secretary of State banned him from teaching indefinitely, adding that he can apply for the order to be overturned after five years.

The panel heard that is his application for a previous job as a PE teacher at Woodlands Primary School, Mr Smith falsely said he had played for Leicester City from June 2000 to December 2001 and West Bromwich Albion before that.

He also said he had represented England Schoolboys at a U15s level.

Mr Smith then made a presentation at an assembly at the school in February 2016 when he "presented a falsified team sheet inserting his name in a list of England youth team footballers and/or Leicester youth team".

He also showed students a doctored photo to make it look like he had played for Leicester City, the panel heard.

The school began an investigation after a pupil and his father were unable to find any information online about Mr Smith's football career.

Mr Smith admitted the facts of the allegation, but said they not did amount to unacceptable professional conduct or conduct that would bring the profession into disrepute.

'Lack of remorse'

He was also accused of submitting false documentation relating to treatment from a counsellor while working at the Co-op Academy, which he denied.

However, the panel found the allegation to be proven "on the balance of probabilities".

The report found Mr Smith had "acted deliberately" and had "knowingly provided false information and misled pupils".

The panel also said it "did not consider that the incident was out of character and concluded that Mr Smith's behaviour "constituted a pattern of conduct".

Sarah Buxcey, who acted on behalf of the Secretary of State, said Mr Smith's "lack of insight and remorse" was a factor in her decision to ban him from the profession.

"The panel noted that Mr Smith did not engage with the formal process and instead resigned with immediate effect shortly after the formal meeting at Woodlands Primary School, leaving the school and its pupils without a teacher," she said.