Gary Foster

Introduction

Gary Foster is a Lancashire teacher who worked at Crookhey Hall School in Cockerham, a special needs school catering for children aged 10 to 17, and who has been banned from the teaching profession for life after assaulting a pupil there. Foster, 46, repeatedly hit the boy against a wall in an incident a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) examined after he had already been convicted in a criminal court and jailed. He was dismissed by the school after the incident and, following the panel’s decision, is not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. The lifetime ban was reported by BBC News on 9 September 2025.

Background Information

Foster started teaching at Crookhey Hall School in Cockerham in 2009 and remained at the school, which caters for children aged 10 to 17, for some sixteen years. By the time the incident occurred, he was an experienced teacher in that setting who undertook regular training, as the panel itself later acknowledged.

The panel also noted Foster’s own acceptance that he “acted outside of the prescribed physical intervention protocols when removing Pupil A from the classroom”. Special schools such as Crookhey Hall train staff in physical intervention techniques, and the panel’s later conclusion that the risk of him repeating such behaviour was high rested in part on the fact that his training and experience had not prevented the assault.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. Foster’s conviction for battery at Preston Magistrates’ Court in August 2023 is a criminal conviction and a matter of court record. The findings that follow from the Teaching Regulation Agency professional conduct panel are regulatory adjudications made in that forum, not further criminal findings. The pupil concerned is identified in the reporting only as Pupil A.

The assault that ended Foster’s career took place when he removed a pupil, known as Pupil A, from a classroom at Crookhey Hall School. A police report considered by the panel said he “grabbed” Pupil A “by the shoulder of his coat roughly and pushed him into the chair” and then “grabs him by the jacket and pushes him against the corner of the room near the door”. “It appears he is hitting him against the wall repeatedly,” the report went on, even though Pupil A had “not offered any violence”.

The panel said it noted comments from the court that Foster “manhandled a child three times and caused physical harm and distress”. The court’s account and the police report together describe a sustained physical assault on a special needs pupil who, by the panel’s account, had done nothing to provoke violence.

Foster was prosecuted for the assault and was convicted of battery at Preston Magistrates’ Court. In August 2023 he was jailed for 10 weeks and ordered to pay £200 compensation to the boy. The school sacked him after he “acted outside the remit of physical intervention”, a professional conduct panel later heard.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The professional conduct panel found that Foster had shown only “limited remorse” for his actions. It said there was “no evidence” he “demonstrated exceptionally high standards in his personal and professional conduct, nor that he had contributed significantly to the education sector”. Members said teachers must treat students “with dignity, building relationships rooted in mutual respect, and at all times observing proper boundaries appropriate to a teacher’s professional position”.

The panel went on to say: “Bearing in mind Mr Foster was an experienced teacher in that setting who undertook regular training, the panel considered the risk of repetition of such behaviour by Mr Foster to be high.” On that basis it decided a prohibition order was the appropriate outcome, banning him from teaching indefinitely. A spokesman for Crookhey Hall School said: “We do not condone any form of physical violence, harm or distress to our pupils, whose safety and wellbeing are of paramount importance.” The school said the “isolated incident” was “dealt with swiftly” and the staff member involved was “immediately suspended”, and that it remained committed to the highest standards of safeguarding and regular staff training.

A TRA prohibition order is the regulator’s most severe sanction: it removes a teacher’s eligibility to teach in the vast majority of schools in England, and a ban without a review period means it cannot be lifted on application. Foster was given 28 days to appeal to the High Court.

Current Status

Foster is banned from the teaching profession for life, having been prohibited from teaching indefinitely with no entitlement to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. The ban was reported on 9 September 2025, some two years after his jailing. He was given 28 days to appeal to the High Court, and no appeal has been reported.

His employment at Crookhey Hall School had already ended before the ban: he was sacked after the assault, having “acted outside the remit of physical intervention”. The £200 compensation he was ordered to pay the boy followed his criminal conviction.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition order ends Foster’s teaching career outright. He had spent some sixteen years at Crookhey Hall School, and the panel’s finding that the risk of repetition of his behaviour was high, combined with his “limited remorse”, meant the lifetime ban was imposed with no route back: he is not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. The 10-week custodial sentence and the conviction for battery remain on his criminal record, alongside the £200 compensation order.

The panel’s reasoning makes clear why the outcome was so severe: an experienced teacher, regularly trained in physical intervention, assaulted a special needs pupil who had offered no violence, and showed only limited remorse afterwards. For a profession whose members must treat students “with dignity, building relationships rooted in mutual respect, and at all times observing proper boundaries appropriate to a teacher’s professional position”, the breach was treated as irredeemable.