Courtney Pettifor

Introduction

Courtney Pettifor is a former teacher at Witchford Village College in Witchford, Cambridgeshire, where he taught PE from 18 January 2018 until his dismissal on 23 March 2021. Over roughly a year he sent thousands of emails to pupils, late at night and during lockdowns, signing off with kisses and using terms of endearment, asking about their tan lines and telling one girl he would run past her window. He admitted the allegations in a signed statement of agreed facts and a panel considered the case without a hearing. On 21 December 2022 the decision maker banned him from teaching indefinitely, with no application possible before December 2027.

Background Information

Pettifor joined Witchford Village College as a PE teacher in January 2018. Concerns about his closeness to Year 10 and 11 girls surfaced from autumn 2019, when a colleague raised his relationships and mentoring of KS4 girls, and he was advised to keep his distance during social time. A parent complained about the tone of his emails during the first lockdown, and on 13 January 2021 a pupil sent screenshots of his messages to a former student to a senior leader. The school commissioned an investigation and found thousands of emails to numerous pupils.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Admitted misconduct, no criminal case. Pettifor admitted the allegations in a signed statement of agreed facts and the panel sat without a hearing. Nothing here involves a criminal charge; the case is about a two-year pattern of boundary-crossing emails to pupils.

Between approximately January 2020 and January 2021, Pettifor sent emails to pupils that were “thousands in number”, many sent late at night or during holidays, weekends and national lockdowns. They used “x” to denote kisses, included him ‘sending hugs’, hearts and winking emojis, nicknames, and lines such as “you love me” and “you mean more to me than you realise”. He used terms of endearment including babe, sweetheart, darling, my lovely and special girl. He asked one or more pupils to send him an image of themselves, commented on their physical appearance, saying they could be a model or were stunning, referring to their figure and asking about their tan lines. He told one pupil ‘I’ll run past your window every day up until Sunday from now, just for you x’, with reference to passing her home address, and provided his home address to pupils. He asked pupils to contact him on personal details once they left school, offered free tutoring and Zoom chats, and encouraged them towards his TikTok. The school had warned him in autumn 2019, spring 2020, autumn 2020 and December 2020, and a parent had telephoned to say his contact was blurring professional boundaries. Witness A’s investigation found he had sent “thousands of emails to numerous pupils”, some of the pupils involved were “quite vulnerable”, and he “had not been logging key safeguarding concerns”. The panel found allegation 1(a)-(r) proved, along with every other allegation except one.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The Disclosure and Barring Service wrote to Pettifor on 17 January 2022 confirming it would take no further action over the emails, so the matter remained a professional conduct case with no criminal proceedings. The school’s disciplinary meeting concluded on 23 March 2021 that gross misconduct had taken place and he was dismissed. Before the TRA, Pettifor admitted the facts of all six allegations and that his behaviour amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. The panel found everything proved except allegation 2(c), a parent’s request that he stop contacting Pupil D, for which no documentary evidence was provided. It described the misconduct as “sustained and multiple failings to safeguard pupils”, noted his “total lack of insight and no evidence of remorse”, and recommended a prohibition order with immediate effect.

Current Status

Decision maker John Knowles, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, prohibited Pettifor from teaching on 21 December 2022, with the order indefinite but carrying a five-year review period. “He may apply for the prohibition order to be set aside, but not until 28 December 2027, five years from the date of this order at the earliest.” That is not an automatic right, and “Without a successful application, Mr Pettifor remains prohibited from teaching indefinitely.” The order means he cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England, and it takes effect from the date it is served. He has a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Pettifor’s three-year teaching career ended with his dismissal in March 2021, and the prohibition order closes teaching in England unless a future panel sets the order aside after December 2027. No criminal case followed, so there is no register or SHPO implication, only the professional ban. The decision records no public response from Pettifor beyond his submissions, in which he said students chose to confide in him because he was a young teacher. It notes he is now a manager at a local gym and has built up a personal training business.

Sources

• TRA, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Courtney Pettifor” — source