Cumbria teacher banned after sexual abuse conviction

The teacher worked at John Ruskin School in Coniston

A former teacher jailed for sexually abusing a 16-year-old pupil has been banned from the profession for life.

Mark Craster-Chambers, 56, was one of three men who abused the girl in unconnected incidents 20 years ago.

Craster-Chambers, who worked at John Ruskin School, in Coniston, Cumbria, was convicted in March last year.

A misconduct panel heard he maintained his innocence but concluded a ban was necessary to "maintain public confidence in the profession".

A report by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) said Craster-Chambers accepted he had been convicted of two counts of engaging in sexual activity while employed at the school between 2001 and 2005 but "strenuously maintained" he was not guilty.

The panel noted he had made a complaint to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) about Cumbria Police's handling of a grievance he had raised with the force, which had been upheld.

Sufficient proof

However, the IOPC had made clear it was not challenging or assessing the safety of the conviction itself, it said.

As a result, the panel concluded Craster-Chambers' conviction was sufficient proof of the allegations it was considering.

It also decided he should not be allowed to apply for the teaching ban to be lifted at a later date.

Craster-Chambers, who had moved to Preston on Stour, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, had risen to the position of deputy head during 26 years in teaching but left the profession in 2016.

The following year, a former pupil reported to police that she had engaged in sexual activity with him.

In a statement heard in court, the woman said, as her teacher, he "should have known better".

She said: "Because of him I have spent my whole life anxious around people in positions of trust like doctors, therapists and even in job interviews."

Sentencing Craster-Chambers in 2021, recorder Richard Archer said he "knew full well, in light of the high professional regard in which you were otherwise held, what the law was and why it existed".

He said: "You broke that law and broke her trust."