Liverpool teacher who tickled girl and made sex jokes banned

Joseph Johnson taught food technology at The Belvedere Academy for 18 months

A teacher who tickled a female pupil, put his finger in another's mouth and nose and made inappropriate sexual jokes has been banned from the profession.

Joseph Johnson, 29, also swore at the teenage girls in his care and used demeaning nicknames, a panel found.

Mr Johnson was teaching at The Belvedere Academy girls' school in Liverpool in 2018 and 2019 at the time.

The panel ruled his actions fell short of the standards expected.

The Teaching Regulation Agency noted the language and "jokes" used by Mr Johnson "were often of a sexual nature and were extremely derogatory".

The panel said Mr Johnson had told students an "egregious" and sexually explicit story and used inappropriate language as he moved past a pupil in the classroom and tickled her hips.

A number of pupil accounts confirmed the food technology teacher had put his finger in a child's mouth and nose and on another occasion licked his hand and attempted to place it on pupils' faces.

He was also found to have sworn at children and told them that if they misbehaved he would take them up to "Ceiling Gary" who would "lock you up" or "rape you". He invented the fictional character to explain footsteps on the floor above the room in which he taught.

The panel also upheld claims he called one pupil names including "cretin".

However, an accusation that he chased a girl around a classroom with a sachet of tomato sauce, knowing that she was scared of the condiment, was unproven, as was a claim that he whispered the word "whore" behind another girl.

'Impressionable girls'

The panel found there was evidence to suggest that Mr Johnson was acting as if he was the pupils' friend as opposed to their teacher and he had failed to observe appropriate boundaries.

They declared his behaviour "wholly inappropriate" when teaching "impressionable teenage girls".

No mitigating evidence was submitted by Mr Johnson.

A spokeswoman for Girls' Day School Trust, which operates The Belvedere Academy, said Mr Johnson had worked at the school for 18 months and was immediately reported to the authorities and suspended in May 2019.

She said: "Following his suspension and the conclusion of a full investigation in line with internal procedures, [Mr Johnson] was subsequently dismissed.

"The welfare of our pupils is our highest priority, and we take safeguarding extremely seriously, following local authority and Girls' Day School Trust safeguarding protocol."

Mr Johnson was banned indefinitely and cannot apply for the order to be removed until 2027.

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