Mr Richard Taylor

Introduction

Richard Taylor was a teacher at Cantrell Primary School in Nottingham, where he worked from 1 September 1999 until 23 November 2020 — a career of more than two decades at a single primary school. On 10 February 2022 he was convicted at Nottingham Crown Court of 2 counts of indecent assault on a girl under 14 and 9 counts of assault on a girl under 13 by touching, contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003, and in April 2022 he was sentenced to a total of 13 years’ imprisonment. The panel later found the offences involved pupils at schools in which he had taught. In December 2023 a Teaching Regulation Agency professional conduct panel found the allegations proved, and on the decision maker’s order he was banned from teaching for life.

Background Information

Taylor was employed at Cantrell Primary School (’the School’) from 1 September 1999 until 23 November 2020. On 4 November 2017 he was arrested and charged with criminal offences including assault of a child and possession of indecent images; the charges related to pupils at the School and one other school. On 12 December 2017, following Pupil A’s disclosure that she had been sexually abused by Taylor, the matter was reported to the police. He was arrested again on 15 December 2017 and suspended from the School on 18 December 2017. The School began an internal investigation on 14 January 2020, noting media coverage of his conduct that had caused it serious reputational damage, and held a disciplinary hearing on 23 November 2020.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Admitted findings. The convictions were matters of court record; before the regulator, Taylor admitted the allegations through a signed statement of agreed facts — although he had pleaded not guilty to all offences at trial — and the panel found them proved.

The panel considered the allegations set out in the notice of meeting dated 10 October 2023: that on or around February 2022 Taylor was convicted at Nottingham Crown Court of 2 counts of indecent assault on a girl under 14 and 9 counts of assault on a girl under 13 by touching, contrary to the Sexual Offences Act 2003. He admitted allegations 1(a) and 1(b) and that his behaviour amounted to a conviction of a relevant offence, as set out in the response to the notice of referral form and the statement of agreed facts, both signed by him on 7 September 2023 and subsequently signed by the presenting officer on 19 September 2023.

In advance of the meeting, the TRA agreed to Taylor’s request that the allegations be considered without a hearing. The panel therefore considered the case at a virtual meeting on 20 December 2023 without the attendance of the presenting officer, Ms Sherelle Appleby of Browne Jacobson LLP, Taylor, or any representative for him. Applying the Advice that a certificate of conviction is conclusive proof of both the conviction and the facts necessarily implied by it unless exceptional circumstances apply — none of which it found — the panel was satisfied that allegations 1(a) and 1(b) were proven, and that the proven facts amounted to a conviction of a relevant offence.

The panel found breaches of the Teachers’ Standards, including treating pupils with dignity, observing proper boundaries and safeguarding pupils’ well-being. It noted that the behaviour led to a sentence of imprisonment, which it took as indicative of the seriousness of the offences, and that his conduct ran counter to what should have been at the very core of his practice as a teacher with a duty of care towards children. By virtue of his position he held a position of trust and responsibility in relation to the pupils he assaulted: “He abused that position.”

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel identified an extremely strong public interest in the protection of pupils and other members of the public, finding that Taylor’s actions raised obvious and significant public and child protection concerns, and that public confidence in the profession could be seriously weakened if such conduct were not treated with the utmost seriousness. There was no evidence that his actions were not deliberate, none that he acted under extreme duress, and none of exceptionally high standards in his personal and professional conduct; the panel found his actions calculated and motivated. He provided no mitigation, and there was no evidence of remorse or insight. Publication of the findings alone would, in the panel’s view, unacceptably compromise the public interest, so it recommended a prohibition order with immediate effect — and, given sexual misconduct involving a child, with no review period.

Current Status

Decision maker David Oatley, deciding on behalf of the Secretary of State on 22 December 2023, found the conduct fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession and that “the very serious nature of the offences of which Mr Taylor was convicted and the lack of evidence of insight and remorse” meant that allowing a review period was not sufficient to maintain public confidence. Taylor “is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England”; in view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved, he has no entitlement to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. The order takes effect from the date it is served, with a right of appeal to the King’s Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days of notice.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition ended a teaching career spanning more than two decades at a single Nottingham primary school. The panel found the seriousness of the offending behaviour was relevant to Taylor’s ongoing suitability to teach, and that his actions were relevant to teaching and working with children because he had assaulted numerous young pupils at the schools in which he taught. In weighing proportionality, the decision maker gave less weight to his contribution to the profession in the absence of evidence of insight or remorse. The criminal consequences — 13 years’ imprisonment, a sexual harm prevention order, placement on a barring list by the Disclosure and Barring Service and lifetime registration on the Sex Offenders Register — sit alongside a ban he has no right to seek removed.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Richard Taylor” — source