Richard Swinnerton

Introduction

Richard Swinnerton is a former deputy headteacher and deputy designated safeguarding lead at St Clare’s Primary School in Middlesbrough who was banned from teaching for life after police found a catalogue of indecent material depicting children on his laptop. He was convicted at Teesside Magistrates’ Court on 14 September 2020 of three counts of possessing indecent material — category A, B and C — and on 13 March 2023 decision maker Sarah Buxcey, acting for the Secretary of State, prohibited him from teaching indefinitely with no review period and no entitlement to apply for restoration. The case was decided without a hearing on his own signed admissions.

Background Information

Swinnerton had joined St Clare’s Primary School, part of the Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust, on 1 September 2019 — a role that made him deputy designated safeguarding lead, personally responsible for child protection. His employment ran until 20 May 2020. On 15 May 2020, police executed a search warrant at his home and arrested him; the examination of his laptop found 95 indecent records of children, of which 87 were category A — the most serious grade — with seven category B and one category C. He resigned from the school after the arrest.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted of possessing indecent material. Swinnerton admitted the facts and the convictions in a statement of agreed facts signed on 22 November 2022, and asked that the case be decided without a hearing; the TRA and panel agreed.

The criminal case was resolved quickly — the convictions came a year before the TRA even received the file — but the material itself was the graver finding. The sentencing court’s own words, quoted in the TRA decision, set the aggravation: “The aggravating features are the age and vulnerability of the children, that there was discernible pain and distress and that they were moving images.” The panel accepted the certificate of conviction as proof and found the allegation proved in its entirety, and noted the count covered material “both still and moving” at category A. The possession conviction fell squarely within the TRA guidance’s list of behaviours that militate against any review period — one-off incidents included — and the panel found his conduct was relevant to teaching and would have been likely to affect the safety and security of pupils. The irony the decision does not soften is the role: the man who was deputy safeguarding lead held the largest and most serious grade of the collection the police seized.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel did give him one credit: it noted he was frank and forthcoming when first approached by police and admitted his actions, and it read the sentencing transcript’s observation that he was of good standing before the conviction, along with positive pre-offence employment references. None of it moved the outcome. The panel found the conviction “extremely serious given the nature of the offences”, and Buxcey concluded that a prohibition order without a review period was required to maintain public confidence, noting the safeguarding dimension of a deputy DSL holding such material. The school lost its deputy head within days of the warrant, and the trust’s published response is the regulatory record itself.

Current Status

Swinnerton 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, and Buxcey’s decision states that in view of the seriousness of the offences he “shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach” — the permanent form of the TRA’s sanction. The determination took effect from service of the order following the 13 March 2023 decision.

Impact on Their Career/Life

A career that survived to a deputy headship and a safeguarding portfolio ended with a police warrant, a guilty plea and a lifetime bar, and the decision records that even frankness at the police station could not offset material the court described in terms of children’s pain and distress. For schools the case underlines the guidance’s hardest line: possession of category A material is treated as disqualifying regardless of admissions, cooperation or prior good standing, because the conduct category itself forecloses trust.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency (GOV.UK), “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Richard Swinnerton,” February 2023 — source