Daniel Duhig

Introduction

Daniel Duhig is a former primary school teacher who was banned from teaching for life in July 2026 after pleading guilty to attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child. Duhig, then a Year 2 class teacher at Godwin Primary School in Dagenham, was arrested in January 2024 after arranging to meet who he believed was a child through a dating app; the panel considering his case found the risk of him reoffending was high and barred him with no review period.

Background Information

Duhig joined Godwin Primary School in September 2023 as a Year 2 class teacher and had completed one term of his early career teacher induction when, on 8 January 2024, he was arrested for offences related to communicating inappropriately with a child. The school was informed by police and placed him on garden leave from 17 January 2024; he was dismissed on 2 May 2024. The matter was referred to the TRA in May 2024. The panel was told his arrest followed involvement on a dating app. The panel reviewed the school’s telephone notes from the day of the arrest and the disciplinary investigation, and found them consistent with the court extract and the agreed facts. Because he was an early career teacher, the case also removed a teacher who had not yet completed the statutory induction that would have fully qualified him for the profession.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. Duhig pleaded guilty at his first opportunity and the conviction is a matter of court record accepted by the TRA panel; nothing in this section is an unadjudicated allegation. The offence conduct is the attempt, not any completed sexual contact.

On 15 April 2025, Duhig pleaded guilty at Barkingside Magistrates’ Court to one count of adult attempt to engage in sexual communication with a child, contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981, for an offence committed on 28 December 2023. On 19 May 2025 he was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months, with a rehabilitation activity requirement and 100 hours of unpaid work, ordered to pay a £154 victim surcharge and £85 prosecution costs, and placed on the sex offenders register for seven years.

The TRA case was decided without a hearing at Duhig’s request: he provided a signed statement of agreed facts dated 2 June 2026 admitting the conviction and that it amounted to a conviction of a relevant offence. The panel nonetheless determined the case on the available evidence, including the court extract, and found the allegation proved.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel recommended a prohibition order with no review period. It found no material evidence of insight, remorse, or meaningful consideration of the impact of his offending, and concluded “the risk of Mr Duhig committing similar offences in the future is high.” The Secretary of State’s decision maker agreed, citing the custodial sentence — albeit suspended — and the sexual nature of the offence as weighing decisively against any review period. No mainstream press coverage carrying his name has been located; the public record is the regulator’s published decision.

Current Status

The determination is dated 29 July 2026 and the order was signed on 30 July 2026. Duhig is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth-form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England, and is not entitled to apply for restoration. His registration requirements run to 2032. He retains a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days of notice.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Duhig’s removal from teaching came within his first year in the profession and compounds a suspended custodial sentence, seven years on the sex offenders register, and a criminal record for a child-sex offence that will appear on every enhanced DBS check. The lifetime TRA bar forecloses not only schools but any youth-accommodation or children’s-home role, and the panel’s high-risk finding means any future application to work with children would be made against a published regulator decision describing him as likely to reoffend.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Daniel Duhig,” published 20 August 2026 — source