Swansea teacher given payout despite under-age sex claims

A deputy head teacher sacked for having sex with teenage girls was given an £8,000 payout with a glowing reference, a disciplinary hearing has been told.

Jonathan Norbury, 35, from Swansea, denies having sex with three girls under the age of 16.

He was cleared in court in January 2015 of alleged offences with two of the girls, who he did not teach.

The Education Workforce Council (EWC) will decide if the allegations are true.

The hearing in Cardiff was told Mr Norbury was sacked from Casllwchwr Primary School, in Loughor, for gross misconduct.

Yet Swansea council gave him a reference which described him as a "valued and conscientious teacher" who "always put learning outcomes and the needs of pupils first".

The hearing was told his relationships with the three girls amounted to unacceptable professional conduct.

'Inappropriate relationships'

Case presenter Ms Cadi Dewi said the girls - referred to as Girl A, Girl B, and Girl C - all met Mr Norbury when they were about 15 and began relationships with him between 2005 and 2010.

Ms Dewi said the relationships allegedly involved flirty text messages and later, sexual contact.

All three girls - who are now adults - were said to have "moved on with their lives", before being contacted by police in 2010 after an anonymous tip off to the NSPCC.

David Harris, representing Mr Norbury, said his client admitted having an "inappropriate relationship" with two of the girls after they turned 16.

Mr Harris said the reference, which was written by Mr Norbury and the wording agreed to by the council, was "fundamentally at odds" with the local authority's decision to fire him.

"They could have said 'we have dismissed you for gross misconduct, there's no way on earth we're giving you a reference', but that's not what happened," he said.

Mr Harris added Mr Norbury did not want to return to education and received the £8,000 settlement from the council after mediation.

If the EWC panel decides the allegations are true, he faces a range of sanctions, including being banned from teaching.