Simon Murch

Introduction

Simon Murch is a former religious education teacher at Monteney Primary School in Sheffield who was banned from teaching for life in July 2025 after being convicted of raping a girl under the age of 13. His employment, begun on 1 September 2010, ended with his resignation on 4 September 2023, the day before he pleaded guilty. On 23 July 2025, on behalf of the Secretary of State, decision maker Marc Cavey prohibited Murch from teaching indefinitely with no review period and no entitlement to apply for restoration.

Background Information

Murch taught religious education at Monteney Primary School in Sheffield from 1 September 2010 until his resignation on 4 September 2023 — nearly thirteen years at the school. The panel noted he was an experienced teacher, a leader, and a regional representative for a recognised union, a position of trust in which he was expected to be a role model. The TRA agreed to his request that the allegations be considered without a hearing, and at a private meeting.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Adjudicated vs. alleged. Simon Murch’s conviction was entered in a criminal court and confirmed by a certificate of conviction and his PNC record; he also provided a signed statement of agreed facts, dated 13 February 2025, admitting the conviction as a relevant offence. These are matters of record, not contested allegations.

On 24 June 2023, Murch raped a girl under the age of 13, an offence contrary to section 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. He was arrested in Sheffield on 16 July 2023, suspended from his role at the school, then remanded in custody and charged. On 5 September 2023 he pleaded guilty and was convicted of the offence; on 15 February 2024 he was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months imprisonment, one year of which is to be served on extended licence. The sentence also included a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a victim surcharge of £228.

The sentencing judge’s remarks, quoted in the decision, show how the offence came to pass. The judge noted that Murch ‘had been subjected to safeguarding training,’ and said that Murch ’now accept[ed] that you must have chosen to ignore the obvious fact that she was much younger and convinced yourself that she was of legal age.’ The judge stated that the girl ‘was in fact, 12 years old,’ and that ‘it would have been plain to you when you met her than (sic) she was significantly younger than 18.’ Murch concealed that he was with an underaged girl, and there was evidence he intended to continue the relationship had his conduct not been detected; it came to light before their next planned meeting, when the child told her parents.

The TRA case was built on those criminal court outcomes. The panel considered the allegation in a notice of meeting dated 19 July 2024 — that Murch was guilty of having been convicted of a relevant offence, in that he raped a girl under 13 on 24 June 2023 — alongside the statement of agreed facts, in which he admitted the facts. The panel accepted the certificate of conviction as conclusive proof of the offence and found allegation 1 proved. It determined the nature and gravity of the offence were very serious, and that no review period was appropriate, the Advice stating that sexual misconduct involving a child militates against recommending one.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The criminal consequences came first. Murch was suspended after his July 2023 arrest, and his resignation of 4 September 2023 ended his employment the day before his conviction. The custodial sentence of 8 years and 6 months was accompanied by a Sexual Harm Prevention Order and a victim surcharge of £228. The panel noted mitigating factors — an otherwise unblemished record and full admissions in the statement of agreed facts — but weighed them against aggravating features: deliberate, premeditated actions involving the harm and abuse of a child, an attempted concealment of the girl’s age, and the breach of trust by an experienced teacher and union representative. The sentencing remarks also noted difficult personal circumstances at the time, though the panel found no mitigation relevant to its decision.

The professional consequences followed on 23 July 2025, when a TRA professional conduct panel — Susan Humble (lay panellist, in the chair), Suhel Ahmed and Michele Barlow-Ward, teacher panellists — met virtually via Microsoft Teams, without a presenting officer, Murch or any representative. Finding his actions fundamentally incompatible with being a teacher, it recommended a prohibition order with immediate effect and no review period. The same day, decision maker Marc Cavey, acting on behalf of the Secretary of State, imposed the order: Murch is prohibited from teaching indefinitely with no provision for a review period and shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. The decision maker found the findings extremely serious and concluded that allowing a review period was not sufficient to maintain public confidence in the profession.

Current Status

Murch’s prohibition is in force since 23 July 2025 and applies for life: he cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England. With no review period attached, there is no route back — he is not entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. He had a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days from the date he was given notice of the order; that window has now lapsed.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The prohibition order ends any prospect of Murch returning to the profession he worked in for nearly thirteen years. The panel found that although his competence as an educator was not called into question, there was not a strong public interest in retaining him in the profession, and that his actions raised obvious and significant public and child protection concerns. The published decision records that a teacher who rapes a child cannot remain a teacher, regardless of an otherwise unblemished record.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Simon Murch” — panel decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State, published August 2025. source