Martin Jones

Introduction

Martin Jones is a former Repton School teacher whose conduct became the subject of a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) professional conduct panel hearing held in May 2026. The case joined a decades-old allegation that he had kissed a pupil at a school social to two drink-driving convictions, one from 2005 and one from 2019. The panel found the convictions proved and ruled that they amounted to relevant offences, but concluded that the pupil allegation was not proved. It recommended that no prohibition order be made, and on 2 June 2026 the decision maker acting on behalf of the Secretary of State agreed: the findings were published, but Martin Jones was not banned from teaching.

Background Information

Jones joined Repton School in July 2003, working there almost exclusively in connection with sport. Away from the classroom, he helped to found a hockey club, serving as its Head of Hockey from the club’s founding until January 2023, with responsibility for coaching, recruiting coaches and overseeing player development. From 2024 he worked for a new employer, who later provided a character reference to the panel. The case reached the TRA through a series of referrals: a former school governor referred concerns about alleged sexual misconduct in April 2022, a concern was raised with the Independent Schools Inspectorate around May 2022, and further referral forms followed from the ISI in February 2023 and the school itself in March 2023.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Denied the pupil-kissing allegation, which was not proved; admitted two drink-driving convictions, which were proved; no prohibition order — findings published only.

The panel considered four allegations in a notice of proceedings dated 12 February 2026, at a hearing held in public in Coventry from 27 to 29 May 2026. The first alleged that, in or about 2005, Jones kissed a pupil, referred to as Pupil B, at a school social; the second alleged that this conduct was sexually motivated. The third and fourth alleged drink-driving convictions. Jones denied the first two allegations and admitted the convictions.

The TRA’s case on the kiss rested mainly on the evidence of Pupil M, a former pupil who described a termly social held in the school’s theatre, known as the “400 Hall”, with a dancefloor, a DJ and blackout curtains. She recalled seeing a couple kissing on the busy dancefloor, being jostled into them, and then recognising Jones’s face when they broke apart. Jones denied the allegation outright, saying he could not definitively recall attending the event and had never kissed Pupil B at any time.

Pupil B herself volunteered to give evidence on Jones’s behalf. She said the allegation of a shared kiss was “false”, described her knowledge of him as limited, and said “if he had kissed me, I would have remembered it”. The panel weighed the dark, crowded setting, the alcohol consumed, the absence of any contemporaneous evidence, the passage of more than twenty years before accounts were gathered in 2022, and the improbability of a staff member kissing a pupil openly on a dancefloor in a room full of pupils and colleagues. It did not regard Pupil M as dishonest, but found the TRA had not discharged its burden of proof, and allegations 1 and 2 were not proved.

The convictions stood on admissions and certificates of conviction. On 5 July 2005, Jones was convicted at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court of driving on 13 June 2005 at Ticknall with 70 microgrammes of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath; he was fined £440 and disqualified from driving for 20 months. He explained he had been trying to collect a friend who could not get a taxi, and was stopped by police beforehand. On 18 March 2019, he was convicted at the same court of driving on 3 March 2019 with 78 microgrammes per 100 millilitres; he was fined £710 and disqualified for 20 months. This time he had left a pub in Repton, found his car blocking a door, and later said he “stupidly decided to drive home 200m away”, also offering a colleague a lift — both homes on the school site. He reported himself to the deputy headmistress within a day.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel treated the convictions seriously. It found they were contrary to the standard of personal and professional conduct expected of teachers and were likely to affect the safety or security of pupils or the public, noting that the 2019 offence involved driving onto the school site while over the limit and that both incidents involved passengers or intended passengers. It was struck by the repetition of a near-identical offence after a fourteen-year gap, and classified the offences as serious and relevant.

Mitigation nonetheless weighed heavily. Jones had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity in both cases, disclosed the convictions candidly to his current employer, sought support through a life coach after the 2019 incident, reduced his alcohol intake, and has not driven after drinking since. His employer’s reference spoke to his openness during recruitment. The panel judged the misconduct to fall at the less serious end of the spectrum — no custodial sentence had been imposed — and recommended that no prohibition order be made, with publication of the findings serving the public interest.

Current Status

On 2 June 2026, decision maker David Oatley, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, published his decision. He put the findings on allegations 1 and 2, which were not proven, entirely from his mind. Weighing the protection of pupils and public confidence against the impact of a ban, and placing considerable weight on Jones’s insight, remorse and the panel’s view that the behaviour was at the less serious end of the spectrum, he concluded that “a prohibition order is not proportionate or in the public interest”. No prohibition order was made: Martin Jones is not banned from teaching, and no review period or set-aside date applies to the published findings. The sanction is therefore the publication of the findings of a relevant conviction on the gov.uk record.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The published finding attaches two drink-driving convictions to Jones’s teaching record on the TRA’s public register, while leaving him free to continue working in the profession. The panel expressly found a public interest in retaining him, noting his past contribution and positive references. The episode nonetheless required him to relitigate a twenty-year-old accusation in public and to account for two criminal convictions spanning fourteen years — an outcome that clears him of the gravest allegation while formally recording the ones he admitted.

Sources

• Department for Education, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Martin Jones” — source