Anthony Shaw

Introduction

Anthony Shaw is a former secondary school mathematics teacher who was banned from teaching indefinitely in February 2021 after a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel found that he sent sexual messages and explicit videos to a pupil, Pupil A, and invited her to his home while he was teaching at Morecambe High School. The panel found all the allegations proved and recommended a ban with a review period, but the Secretary of State’s decision maker rejected that leniency, imposing a lifelong prohibition with no possibility of review.

Background Information

Shaw, born on 13 July 1980 (TRA reference 18561), joined Morecambe High School as a maths teacher on 1 September 2006. Pupil A was a pupil at the school from September 2007 until July 2010 and returned in September 2011 to attend sixth form. Between the academic years 2008 and 2010 she confided in Shaw about her boyfriend at the time; he added her on Facebook and MSN, and the two began messaging each other.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Sexually motivated messages to a pupil over Facebook and MSN; a contested case decided in the teacher’s absence.

The panel found a series of particulars proved. Over Facebook and MSN, Shaw commented on Pupil A’s appearance and called her pretty, and told her she would find another boyfriend easily. He made sexual innuendos about her riding a horse and sitting on a saddle. He requested that she come into school without tights or underwear, and/or sit somewhere where he could see her and push her skirt up. He sent her one or more videos of himself and/or another male masturbating, asked her whether she had enjoyed watching them, and asked or suggested that she send a video of herself masturbating to him. He also invited Pupil A to his house for a meal and asked her to wear her school uniform. When someone noticed their Facebook connection, Shaw told her he could no longer be friends with her there and moved to MSN; the panel saw this as concealing communications he knew were inappropriate.

On 27 September 2012 Pupil A reported the events to a teacher and the deputy headteacher, and the school referred the matter to the Local Authority Designated Officer. Shaw was arrested and interviewed on 2 October 2012 and suspended from the school on 8 October 2012 pending the outcome of the police investigation. He left the school on 31 December 2013 under a settlement agreement. The police investigation ended with his release without charge and no further action; the MSN messages and video clips had been deleted and could not be examined either by the police or by the panel.

Shaw nevertheless continued teaching. He did supply work through Lancashire Teaching Agency between 1 September and 30 November 2014, taught at Pleckgate High School from 1 December 2014 to 31 August 2015, and then worked at the Lakes School in Windermere from 1 September 2015. When the Lakes School became aware of the allegations from his earlier employment it began an investigation and referred the matter to the TRA; Shaw resigned on 12 June 2019.

The case reached a virtual hearing on 24 February 2021, which Shaw did not attend, having confirmed twice that he would not do so; the panel proceeded in his absence. He had denied the allegations, offering only a simple denial and an undated witness statement dated 25 August 2019 — the same statement he had given the Lakes School — which referenced health conditions redacted from the published decision, with no medical evidence provided to support it. He suggested someone else could have used his computer to contact Pupil A; the panel noted that a police report recorded her email address as found on his computer and did not find that assertion credible. The panel found Pupil A to be a credible witness whose account had remained consistent across almost ten years, and saw no evidence that she had any ulterior motive. It found all particulars proved and the conduct sexually motivated, done in pursuit of sexual gratification or a sexual relationship. The panel also remarked, on its own initiative, that his behaviour was consistent with that of someone attempting to “groom” a young person.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel found Shaw guilty of both unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. Although there had been no physical contact, it considered the misconduct serious and recommended a prohibition order — but with a five-year review period. The panel reasoned that “this decision may allow Mr Shaw to reflect on his actions and take steps to remediate his behaviour and demonstrate insight in due course”, having concluded the sexual misconduct “was not at the most serious end of the spectrum”. Decision maker Sarah Buxcey rejected that recommendation on 26 February 2021, writing: “I feel that the panel have given too much weight to the fact that there was no physical contact with the pupil.” Citing the explicit videos, the innuendos and Shaw’s lack of insight or remorse, she imposed an indefinite prohibition with no review period.

Current Status

Shaw is prohibited from teaching indefinitely, which means he cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. The decision maker allowed no review period and further ruled that Shaw shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach, closing off any route back to the profession. The order took effect from the date it was served on him, and the panel outcome was published by the Department for Education in February 2021. Shaw had a right of appeal to the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days of being given notice of the order.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition ended Shaw’s teaching career roughly a decade after the conduct and eighteen months after his resignation from the Lakes School. His exit from Morecambe High School under a settlement agreement in 2013, and the police decision to take no action, had allowed him to keep working in three further schools before the allegations caught up with him. The panel noted that he had shown no remorse, understanding or insight into his actions, and that Pupil A had to recount what had happened to her yet again in order to give evidence. The indefinite ban, with no review and no restoration entitlement, removes any prospect of Shaw working as a teacher in England again.

Sources

• Department for Education, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Anthony Shaw” — source