Simon McLone

Introduction

Simon McLone was an assistant head teacher and director of sixth form at De Lisle College (De Lisle Catholic Voluntary Academy) in Loughborough, Leicestershire, where he had taught since 2014. In June 2026 a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel found that from around September 2019 to January 2021 he engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Person A, a pupil at the school, and that it was sexually motivated. The panel called the conduct “incredibly serious misconduct” and “indicative of grooming,” and the Secretary of State’s decision maker prohibited McLone from teaching indefinitely, with no review period.

Background Information

McLone joined De Lisle College in 2014, becoming assistant headteacher in 2017 and director of sixth form in 2018. Person A was already at the school, and McLone was one of two teachers who taught her. The panel found she had developed a “concerning attachment” to him which he knew of and had been warned about: in summer 2019 he was cautioned to minimise his time with her, and the headteacher told him to leave pastoral matters to a deputy.

On 12 January 2021 suspicions of a relationship were reported to police. On 26 January 2021 McLone was arrested at the school and his work laptop was seized; the school suspended him days later. On 7 February 2021, while suspended, he visited colleague Witness B at her home and disclosed the relationship, telling her he loved Person A and had slept with her after she turned 18. Witness B reported the conversation to the school next day. McLone was dismissed on 16 March 2022; the matter was referred to the TRA on 13 June 2022.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. The findings below are regulatory, made on the balance of probabilities by a TRA panel at a virtual hearing held on 1 to 5 June 2026. They are findings of professional misconduct, not criminal findings: criminal proceedings were envisaged against McLone but never progressed, and the allegations were never subject to a criminal hearing. The outcome was mixed: allegations 1 and 3 were admitted and proved; allegations 2 and 4 were denied and found not proven.

McLone admitted allegations 1 and 3 in his witness statement of 12 May 2026 and denied the rest; the panel considered all the evidence. A police summary listed 11 suspected hotel or apartment stays while Person A was still 17; McLone accepted the bookings were accurate and that she stayed overnight once or twice. He acknowledged the pair shared a bed on an Oxford trip — before her 18th birthday — and called a later trip, with separate beds, a “massive error of judgement.” The panel found proven substantial time together outside school, “including in hotel rooms and, at least on some occasions, overnight,” plus “the giving of presents and the giving of keys to his house” and cuddling. McLone had bought Person A a £75 bracelet for her 17th birthday, and the pair prepared “mood boards” on Pinterest for furnishing his house.

The panel did not accept the spirit of McLone’s written evidence that he “entered into a personal relationship with Person A after she turned 18 years.” It found the relationship had existed long before — he spent repeated occasions with her in hotel rooms “when she remained under 18 and in full time education under his care” — and McLone himself repeatedly called it in evidence “only going one way.” After she turned 18, still a pupil under his care, the relationship was sexual — which the panel treated as uncontested. Applying the Basson v General Medical Council [2018] test — conduct in pursuit of sexual gratification or of a sexual relationship — it found there was “no plausible innocent explanation” and proved allegation 3.

Allegation 2 concerned McLone’s Edexcel account, a secure exam portal, accessed approximately 67 times between February and May 2021 while he was suspended. The panel found it not proven: there was “no evidence that it was Mr McLone or Person A that logged into his account,” his laptop was with the police, he was on bail conditions barring contact with Person A, and it saw logic in the argument that it was “inherently unlikely” someone improperly obtaining exam papers “would access a secure site over 60 times” rather than download everything at once. Allegation 4, dishonesty, fell with it.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The panel found the proved conduct breached the Teachers’ Standards, thirteen provisions of Keeping Children Safe in Education and the school’s Staff Code of Conduct; the offence types of sexual activity and sexual communication with a child were relevant. It said the course of conduct “would unquestionably have had the impact for the child of normalising the behaviour of Mr McLone” and was “indicative of grooming.” Witness B recorded that she had been made sick by McLone’s revelations; the panel said the public would view his actions as “wholly inappropriate and indeed the very antithesis of a teacher’s pastoral role.”

The panel credited McLone’s attendance and cooperation at the hearing but found “extremely limited evidence of insight on his part and no meaningful evidence of regret or remorse,” rejected any suggestion the conduct was out of character over its prolonged period, and concluded the risk of repetition were he ever allowed to teach again “would be extremely high.” It recommended a prohibition order with immediate effect and no review period.

Current Status

The determination is dated 5 June 2026. Decision maker David Oatley, acting for the Secretary of State on 10 June 2026, imposed a prohibition order taking effect when served on McLone: he is barred from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. As no review period was set, he “shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.” He may appeal to the High Court within 28 days of notice of the order. The decision was published on gov.uk on 9 July 2026.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The ban ends, permanently in practice, a near-eight-year De Lisle career that carried McLone into senior leadership. It carries no criminal conviction — the proceedings envisaged against him were not progressed. What remains is a lifetime prohibition on the publicly searchable teaching record, alongside findings that he pursued a sexually motivated relationship with a child in his care.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Simon McLone,” published 9 July 2026 — source