Charles Lloyd Ellis

Introduction

Charles Lloyd Ellis taught at Brookdale Primary School in Wirral from January 2002 until his 2018 dismissal for gross misconduct. In two crown court trials he was convicted of sexually assaulting children: ten counts of sexual assault on a girl under 13 in November 2019, and six counts of indecent assault on a girl under 16 plus five further counts of sexual assault on a girl under 13 in December 2020. Ellis did not attend his Teaching Regulation Agency hearing, writing that “following my three convictions, I do not plan to return to teaching and so do not understand what else there is to discuss?” He was prohibited from teaching for life in November 2023, with no review period and no route back.

Background Information

Ellis joined Brookdale Primary School on 7 January 2002. On 9 June 2017 the school became aware of a serious allegation about his conduct that was already under police investigation; it dismissed him for gross misconduct on 28 June 2018 and referred him to the TRA on 15 November 2018. The criminal cases that followed covered offending against young girls — the victims’ ages central to both convictions — and resulted in a custodial sentence described in the decision as one imposed for “sexual assault of children”. The panel accepted crown court certificates of conviction as conclusive proof of the offences and the facts necessarily implied by them.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted of a relevant offence. On 21 November 2019 Ellis was convicted of ten counts of sexual assault on a girl under 13 by touching. On 4 December 2020 he was convicted of six counts of indecent assault on a girl under 16 and five counts of sexual assault on a girl under 13 by touching. The panel found both allegation sets proved through the certificates of conviction from Liverpool Crown Court.

The panel’s task was not to re-try the allegations but to determine whether the convictions constituted a relevant offence and what sanction followed. The decision records that the offences involved the sexual assault of children he had taught — the decision maker later describing them as “the sexual assault of children that he taught” — making the breach of professional trust direct rather than incidental. Ellis did not attend or participate beyond his written position that, with three convictions, there was nothing left to discuss. The panel found the allegation of conviction of a relevant offence proved in full.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel found an “exceptionally strong public interest consideration in respect of the protection of pupils and other members of the public, given the nature of the offences for which Mr Ellis was convicted”. It noted there was no evidence that Ellis had shown insight or remorse, and no evidence that he had demonstrated exceptionally high standards in personal and professional conduct or contributed significantly to the education sector — the two mitigating levers that might otherwise have argued for a review period. It recommended prohibition with immediate effect and no provision for review. The decision also records his position: that with the convictions behind him, he saw nothing further to discuss with the regulator.

Current Status

Decision maker Marc Cavey, acting for the Secretary of State on 29 November 2023, prohibited Ellis from teaching indefinitely — barring him from any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England — and ruled that he “shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach”. The judgment placed weight on “the very serious nature of Mr Ellis’ offences, which included the sexual assault of children that he taught”, finding the absence of insight or remorse gave rise to a real risk of repetition. His custodial sentence and sex-offence registration continue alongside the lifetime teaching ban.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Ellis’s sixteen years at Brookdale Primary School ended with the 2017 allegation and the 2018 gross-misconduct dismissal; the 2019 and 2020 convictions converted a professional ending into a criminal one, and the November 2023 ban ensures it is permanent. His own message to the regulator — that the convictions made discussion pointless — is recorded in the decision as the sum of his engagement. A teacher convicted of assaults on the children in his own classroom, with no insight offered and none detected, is barred from English classrooms for life.

Sources

• Department for Education, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Charles Lloyd Ellis” — source