Mr Matthew Walker

Introduction

Matthew Walker was a cover supervisor and temporary art teacher at Stokesley School — whose location the decision records as “Middlesborough” [sic] — who was arrested by North Yorkshire Police in February 2019 and convicted at Teesside Crown Court in 2021 of three counts of making indecent photographs of children. He admitted the Teaching Regulation Agency allegation in full, providing a signed statement of agreed facts and admitting the conviction of a relevant offence, and the case was decided without a hearing at a private panel meeting on 20 December 2023. The panel found the allegation proved on his admission and the certificate of conviction, and on 22 December 2023 decision maker David Oatley prohibited Walker from teaching indefinitely, with no review period and no entitlement to apply for restoration.

Background Information

Walker acquired qualified teacher status in 2018, taught art at Freebrough Academy on supply through Vision for Education between September and October 2018, and joined Stokesley School as a cover supervisor and temporary art teacher from January 2019. On or around 5 February 2019 he was arrested on suspicion of making indecent photographs or pseudo-photographs of children, and his computer was seized. The school dismissed him on 27 February 2019, three weeks later. A criminal trial was listed at Teesside Crown Court on 10 November 2021; Walker pleaded guilty on the day of trial, having previously entered not guilty pleas in August 2020 and at a pre-trial review in April 2021, and he was sentenced on 20 December 2021. The panel accepted the certificate of conviction as conclusive proof of the conviction and the facts necessarily implied by it.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Admitted findings. The findings in this section rest on Walker’s own admissions: he provided a signed statement of agreed facts, signed 7 June 2023, and admitted the allegation and that he had been convicted of a relevant offence; the panel also had the certificate of conviction as conclusive proof.

The allegation was that on or around 10 November 2021 Walker was convicted at Teesside Crown Court of three counts of making indecent photographs of children between 4 May 2018 and February 2019, contrary to section 1(1)(a) of the Protection of Children Act 1978 — the panel corrected a typographical slip in the notice, which had cited “Protection of Child Act”. In his agreed facts Walker admitted his computer contained numerous indecent images of children which had been accessed, opened and shared, and admitted making 57 Category A still images, 81 Category A video images, 1 Category B still image, 5 Category B video images, 1 Category C still image and 3 Category C video images of children. He admitted downloading the material to his computer, attempting to delete it using specialist software, and sharing it using peer-to-peer software. Category A denotes the most serious category of such images, and the majority of what Walker downloaded fell into it, with a large proportion of video.

The sentence, imposed on 20 December 2021, comprised 12 months’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months on each count, to run concurrently; 100 hours of unpaid work; a 10-year sexual harm prevention order; a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement; registration on the sex offenders’ register for 10 years; £250 toward prosecution costs and a £140 victim surcharge; and a forfeiture and destruction order for the seized equipment. The certificate of conviction differed marginally from the agreed facts on the third count — five Category C images rather than four — which the panel noted without difficulty. It found the allegation proved and that Walker had been convicted of a relevant offence, noting the offence was indicative of a sexual interest in children and that anyone who acquires such images supports and encourages the sexual exploitation of the children depicted.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel weighed serious mitigation in Walker’s favour — six references from his criminal trial attesting that he was kind and hardworking, helped others without expecting anything in return, and posed no threat — but found he had demonstrated limited insight and no evidence of remorse for the impact on others. His explanations strained credulity: he attributed the images to bitcoin mining and buying computer parts on the deep web, then trying to be thorough in wiping second-hand hard drives. The panel found that as a recently qualified teacher with safeguarding training he ought to have reported any images he found rather than delete them, and therefore found his actions deliberate. It noted he did not demonstrate any appreciation that the children depicted were victims of sexual exploitation, that he attributed the consequences of his offence to the criminal proceedings rather than his own actions, and that his own representations doubted his suitability for teaching’s demands. It found the behaviour fundamentally incompatible with being a teacher and recommended prohibition with immediate effect and no review period, finding Walker responsible for offences relating to the most serious category of images.

Current Status

On 22 December 2023, decision maker David Oatley confirmed the order. Walker is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. Because of the seriousness of the allegations found proved, he is not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach; the order takes effect from service, with a 28-day right of appeal to the High Court from notice. Oatley gave considerable weight to the lack of remorse and full insight, and to the panel’s finding that Walker had not demonstrated sufficient insight to show he understood his actions had supported an industry that exploits children.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Walker’s classroom career lasted barely a year at Stokesley School before his February 2019 arrest and dismissal, and the criminal case concluded it formally: a suspended sentence, 10-year sexual harm prevention order and 10-year sex offender registration, then a lifetime teaching ban with no review route. The panel observed he was newly qualified at arrest and had not developed any record of note as a teacher, and that in his own representations he could not foresee a future as a teacher even without the criminal proceedings. The decision maker found the suspended prison sentence indicative of the seriousness of the offences, and concluded a published finding alone could not maintain public confidence given the absence of remorse and full insight.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Matthew Walker” — source