Anthony Hook

Introduction

Anthony Hook is a former maths teacher at Wright Robinson College in Gorton, Manchester, who was banned from teaching in August 2026 after a Teaching Regulation Agency panel found a pattern of professional-boundary breaches with multiple pupils — touching their hair and shoulders, personal comments, and writing “I love Hooky” in their exercise books. Hook admitted the conduct but denied it was sexually motivated; the panel rejected the denial, and the Secretary of State imposed a prohibition order despite the panel stopping short of recommending one.

Background Information

Hook joined Wright Robinson College on 1 September 2001 as a Teacher of Mathematics and spent roughly two decades at the school. The case reached the TRA through a police referral pathway: a pupil’s 2019 complaint led to a police investigation, including interviews of Hook under caution in February 2019 and CCTV review by the school. No prosecution followed; the misconduct was instead tested at a regulatory hearing. The panel described him as a valued member of staff in a subject area where recruitment was challenging.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations vs. findings. The particulars below were found proved on the balance of probabilities by a TRA panel — regulatory findings, not criminal convictions. Hook admitted the conduct at particulars 1 to 4 in full; the panel found the sexual-motivation particular not proven, and the Secretary of State’s ban rests on the boundary breaches, not on a sexual-motivation finding.

The panel found proved that between November 2018 and January 2019 Hook placed his hand on Pupil A’s shoulder, ran his fingers through Pupil A’s hair, told Pupil A “I like your lippy,” played with the hair of Pupil B and Pupil C, sang Pupil A a song about how much he loved her, told Pupil B “you can come over to my house for a change” and “I will be your prom date,” and wrote “I love Hooky” and “I love Mr Hook” in pupils’ exercise books and planners — the last found proved only on the limited basis of what he had admitted. It also found proved that he played with Pupil L’s hair and contacted her on social media, and that he touched Pupil O’s hair and called Pupil M “beautiful” with “beautiful hair.” One allegation — that he put his hand on Pupil B’s shoulder and walked her down a corridor on about 25 January 2019 — was found not proven to the civil standard.

Hook admitted particulars 1 to 4 in full but denied that his conduct was sexually motivated. The panel found the sexual-motivation particular not proven. Nonetheless, it found the conduct amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, that his actions were deliberate, and that they had caused harm to pupils’ health and wellbeing. Pupil A told police the touching made her uncomfortable and had happened roughly ten times, sometimes in front of the class.

Public Reaction and Consequences

In an unusual split, the panel declined to recommend a prohibition order, citing his admissions, partial insight, long service and the school’s esteem for him — but concluded the harm to pupils meant he needed to demonstrate reduced risk before returning. The Secretary of State disagreed and imposed the ban anyway, reasoning that a published decision “not backed up by remorse and full insight” could not maintain public confidence. Hook did not attend the hearing and was not represented. No mainstream press coverage carrying his name has been located; the public record is the regulator’s decision.

Current Status

The determination is dated 7 August 2026 and the order was signed on 11 August 2026. Hook is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth-form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. His order carries a two-year review period: he may apply for it to be set aside, but not before 17 August 2028, and any application would face the panel’s finding that he had shown insight but no remorse for the impact of his actions. He retains a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days of notice.

Impact on Their Career/Life

A teaching career spanning two decades at a single Manchester college ended in a lifetime ban — with the regulator’s split decision marking him as a teacher whose conduct was serious enough to remove even though his own panel would have let publication be the sanction. The findings follow him under any future safeguarding check, and the published decision keeps the pupils’ accounts — the shoulder-touches, the hair comments, the “prom date” line — attached to his name indefinitely.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Anthony Hook,” published 27 August 2026 — source