David Amos

Introduction

David Amos, a teacher at Sedgefield Community College in County Durham, was banned from teaching for life in September 2024 after a Teaching Regulation Agency panel confirmed his convictions for causing a child under 16 to watch a sexual act and for inciting sexual activity with a girl aged 13 to 17 while in a position of trust — offences committed against a pupil at his own college. Amos, sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment in October 2022, admitted the convictions, and the panel adopted the certificate of conviction as conclusive proof; decision maker Marc Cavey prohibited him indefinitely with no review period and no entitlement ever to apply for restoration.

Background Information

Amos joined Sedgefield Community College as a teacher on 3 January 2017. Between 28 May and 21 September 2020, while employed there, he committed the offences that ended his career: causing a child under 16 to watch a sexual act on 29 May 2020, contrary to section 12 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, and causing or inciting sexual activity with a girl aged 13-17 by a person aged 18 or over in a position of trust, contrary to section 17 of the same Act, over the longer period. The victim was a pupil at the college where he taught. He left the college’s employment on 18 October 2022, in the interval between his conviction and sentencing.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted and sentenced. A court convicted Amos of two sexual offences against a pupil and jailed him for 30 months; he admitted the convictions before the regulator, which banned him for life with no possibility of review or restoration.

The certificate of conviction put before the panel recorded that on 20 September 2022 Amos was convicted of both offences, and that on 19 October 2022 he was sentenced to a total of 30 months’ imprisonment. In his statement of agreed facts he admitted the convictions and admitted the facts behind them: that he had approached the pupil by email, moved the contact to Snapchat, sent her three naked photographs of himself and a video of himself masturbating and ejaculating, and sent sexually explicit messages. The panel accepted the certificate as conclusive proof of both the convictions and the facts necessarily implied by them, and found the allegation of conviction of a relevant offence proved.

The panel noted that the case engaged the Advice’s most serious categories: sexual activity, sexual communication with a child, and offences whose commission by a teacher against a pupil at his own school bore directly on the safety of that pupil. It found his conduct breached the Teachers’ Standards on treating pupils with dignity and on upholding public trust, and observed that a custodial sentence of this length was itself indicative of the seriousness of the offending. Amos requested that the case be decided without a hearing; the panel met in private on the papers, with neither the presenting officer nor Amos present, and confirmed the findings on 16 September 2024.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel found the safeguarding of pupils, public confidence and proper standards all engaged in their strongest forms, and noted that Amos provided no character statements attesting to his history or abilities for it to weigh in mitigation. It recommended prohibition with immediate effect and no review period; Cavey imposed the order on 17 September 2024 and, in addition, directed that Amos shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach — the regulator’s most severe structure, reserving the case to the courts alone. The college had referred the matter after his departure, and the criminal courts had already sentenced him before the regulatory process concluded.

Current Status

Amos is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. The prohibition order of 17 September 2024 took effect on service; with no review period and no restoration rights, it can only be disturbed by a successful High Court appeal, which had to be lodged within 28 days of notice. His custodial sentence ran separately, and the sexual offender registration that follows a sentence of that length applied in parallel. He has published no comment on the case.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The case is the regulator’s conviction-track in its purest form: no contested findings, no mitigation, and a pupil victim at the offender’s own school — the combination that reliably produces a no-review, no-restoration order. For Sedgefield Community College, the offending by a serving teacher against a pupil he approached by email tested its referral and safeguarding chains. For Amos, a 30-month sentence, a sex offender register entry and a lifetime teaching ban together foreclose not just teaching but any regulated work with children in England.

Sources

• Dept for Education, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr David Amos” — source