Mr Barry Wilson

Introduction

Mr Barry Wilson was a teacher in the ACE provision at Dyke House Academy in Hartlepool. In June 2024 a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency considered a pattern of allegations spanning 2021: missing online lessons he was responsible for, attending work smelling of alcohol, threatening behaviour towards a person referred to as Person A, kicking and damaging Person A’s front door, and failing to tell the School about either of his arrests. He admitted all six allegations in a signed statement of agreed facts; the panel found them all proved, though only allegations 3 to 6 amounted to unacceptable professional conduct. On 1 July 2024, deciding on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, Marc Cavey prohibited him from teaching indefinitely with a four-year review period.

Background Information

The panel convened virtually on 27 June 2024. The TRA had agreed to a request from Mr Wilson that the allegations be considered without a hearing; he provided a statement of agreed facts signed on 10 January 2024, admitting the facts and that his conduct amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. The meeting took place in private, without the presenting officer, Mr Wilson or any representative, save that the decision was announced in public and recorded.

The incidents began during pandemic-era remote teaching. On 11 January 2021, after teaching his first two online lessons from home, Mr Wilson did not return after the break; despite calls and messages from the School he never came back online, and a welfare check found him at home apparently having been asleep. On 22 January 2021 he attended the School at around 8.50am looking dishevelled and unkempt and smelling of alcohol; he initially denied it, then admitted drinking the night before, and was offered Occupational Health support. He was suspended on 27 January 2021 and received a final written warning after a disciplinary hearing on 17 March 2021. He left the School’s employment on 31 August 2022, and the matter was referred to the TRA on 5 October 2022.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

The most serious incidents involved Person A. On 16 June 2021 Mr Wilson attended a property at 7.00pm, approached a car in which others were sitting, and tried the locked door. He then said: “Open your car or I’ll smash the windows in”. Person A described feeling frightened by his behaviour, describing him as “irate”; the police found him calm but intoxicated, and he was arrested, though no charges followed because Person A did not support the prosecution. He did not tell the School — which learned of the arrest from the Local Authority Designated Officer on 21 June 2021 and suspended him again on 28 June 2021.

On 21 September 2021 Person A arrived home to find a hole in the front door and called the police. CCTV footage showed Mr Wilson had been present at the house earlier that day, his leg swinging back and forth towards the front door; he was arrested for this on 4 October 2021, and again did not inform the School. The panel found all six allegations proved on his admissions, checked against the TRA’s evidence. On allegations 5 and 6 it found he knew both arrests needed to be disclosed and did not do so out of shame, making his conduct dishonest by the standard of ordinary decent people and deliberate so as to conceal the arrests.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel treated the six allegations with nuance. Allegations 1 and 2 were found proved as facts but held not sufficiently serious to amount to unacceptable professional conduct: the missed lessons were a momentary lapse in pandemic context, and there was no evidence he was under the influence or unfit to teach on 22 January. Allegations 3 to 6 were different: his conduct towards Person A was violent, threatening and intimidating, in one instance in front of children, amounting to harassment; the door-kicking caused actual damage; and the dishonesty, repeated across two arrests, was extremely serious. Allegations 3, 4, 5 and 6 amounted to both unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. Weight was given to mitigation — an otherwise unblemished record, full admissions, and a testing period that led to hospitalisation — but he lacked insight, his reflection focusing on the impact on himself rather than on Person A, witnesses or the profession. Prohibition and a four-year review period were recommended, the conduct serious but not irremediable.

Current Status

On 1 July 2024 Marc Cavey decided on behalf of the Secretary of State that Mr Barry Wilson is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. He put the findings on allegations 1 and 2 entirely from his mind, since those did not amount to unacceptable professional conduct, and noted the remaining findings were serious as they included violent and aggressive behaviour as well as behaviour that lacked honesty and integrity. In his judgement, the lack of full insight means that there is some risk of the repetition of this behaviour and this puts at risk the future wellbeing of pupils. On the review period, he adopted the panel’s reasoning that a review after four years would enable Mr Wilson to fully develop his insight and show he had overcome the issues behind his conduct with no further repetition, such a period being proportionate given the seriousness of the findings and the lack of evidence of full insight or remorse. He may apply for the order to be set aside, but not until 05 July 2028 at the earliest — four years from the date of the order. That is not an automatic right; without a successful application he remains prohibited indefinitely.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition order formally ends Mr Wilson’s ability to teach in England unless a panel sets it aside after July 2028 — although the panel noted he had a new career and did not wish to return to teaching. His position at Dyke House Academy had ended on 31 August 2022, a year after the arrests he concealed. The incidents involving Person A led to arrests in June and October 2021, though no charges followed after Person A declined to support a prosecution. The panel accepted he was an experienced teacher with a previously good record going through a very difficult period that resulted in hospitalisation, but found the repeated violence and dishonesty placed his behaviour at the serious end of the spectrum, and was not satisfied there was no risk of repetition should his circumstances change.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Barry Wilson” — source