Daniel Jackson

Introduction

Daniel Jackson is a former teacher at St Mary’s Independent School in Southampton, where he taught chemistry from 2010 until the end of 2019. In January 2023 a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency found that he had used his school laptop to hold sexually explicit conversations in an online chat room called ‘Just-Teens’, with users who appeared to be of school age, and that the conduct was sexually motivated. Jackson admitted the allegations through a signed statement of agreed facts, and the panel found both allegations proven. The Secretary of State’s decision maker then prohibited him from teaching indefinitely, with no review period and no entitlement to apply for restoration.

Background Information

Jackson was employed at St Mary’s Independent School, Southampton from 1 September 2010 until 30 December 2019 as a chemistry teacher. The case arose on 7 November 2019, when the school’s e-safe monitoring system detected that his work laptop had accessed a site called ‘Just-Teens’ and highlighted sexual communication which appeared to be with a child. The school obtained screenshots of the suspected chat room conversations from the monitoring system and provided them to the police. The matter was referred to the Teaching Regulation Agency, whose notice of meeting dated 22 December 2022 set out the allegations later found proved.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations. In January 2023 a Teaching Regulation Agency panel found proven that Mr Jackson had used his school laptop to hold sexually explicit conversations in a chat room called ‘Just-Teens’, with users who appeared to be of school age. He admitted the facts through a statement of agreed facts; no criminal charge followed because police could not confirm the ages of the people he was talking to.

Police seized his electronic devices, including the school laptop, his mobile phone and several storage devices, and interviewed him on 8 November 2019. He provided no comment and was released without charge or bail pending further investigation. It was alleged that between around 6 and 8 November 2019 he engaged in conversations of an inappropriate and/or sexual nature via ‘Just-Teens’ using a school laptop, and that the conduct was sexually motivated. Jackson admitted both allegations, signing a statement of agreed facts on 10 August 2022 in which he accepted the screenshots confirmed his username and computer had accessed the chatroom and included “a number of sexually explicit conversations with other chatroom users, including reference to sexual interactions with children”. He also accepted the conversations discussed the other user as having ‘detention’ and referenced a person aged 18 as ‘older’, suggesting the individual was of school age or purporting to be.

Forensic examination found no further evidence giving rise to an offence, and the police could not obtain information from the chatroom or its host site to confirm the ages of those he had corresponded with. The investigation concluded around August and September 2020 with no further action. The police nonetheless considered there were sufficient links to indicate he used his work laptop to hold inappropriate conversations with suspected teenage girls, both under and over 18, considered that he “posed a potential risk to children”, and issued him a C5 Notice, indicating police concerns about a person’s sexual behaviour, on 13 October 2020. He had been placed on the DBS Children’s Barred List that May.

The panel reviewed copies of the screenshots and reached the same conclusion. It found both allegations proved and found the proven facts amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, in breach of the Teachers’ Standards, and was satisfied the misconduct was of a serious nature which fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Jackson resigned by letter on 26 November 2019, telling the school he believed it was “the right time to seek a different career”. The letter referred to a doctor’s May 2018 recommendation that he leave his job at St Mary’s, advice he had not taken; the panel noted that no medical evidence was provided, and no character references or testimonials were submitted. No criminal charge followed: the police investigation ended without further action, and the case turned instead on his admissions and the school’s screenshots. The panel found the public interest in protecting pupils, maintaining confidence in the profession and upholding proper standards outweighed his interests, with the sexually motivated conduct a significant factor, and recommended a prohibition order with immediate effect and no review period.

Current Status

On 10 January 2023 Alan Meyrick, deciding on behalf of the Secretary of State, imposed a prohibition order: Jackson is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. The order carries no review period. Meyrick identified the factors against a review period as the sexual misconduct and the lack of insight and remorse, noting the panel found “no evidence of any insight into his actions, any consideration of their impact on children or any remorse”. In view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved, Jackson is not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. The order takes effect from the date it is served, with a right of appeal to the King’s Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition order ends his teaching career permanently, with no review period and no entitlement to apply for restoration, so there is no regulatory route back to the classroom in England. His position on the DBS Children’s Barred List, in place since May 2020, independently bars work with children, and the C5 Notice records police concerns about his sexual behaviour. Jackson has given no public response: he made no comment in his police interview, provided no character references or testimonials to the panel, and the decision records no expression of insight or remorse. The findings remain on the published gov.uk record.

Sources

• TRA, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Daniel Jackson” — source