Thomas Wilson

Introduction

Thomas Wilson is a former religious education teacher whose last post was assistant curriculum leader for religious education at St Thomas More RC College, Manchester. In July 2026 a Teaching Regulation Agency panel found that between 2017 and 2023 he sent sexually motivated messages to two former pupils — one a child — behaved in a sexually motivated way towards a colleague, and sent a former pupil a photograph of his naked torso. He was not present and was not represented. The Secretary of State banned him from teaching for life with no review period, and ruled he shall not be entitled to apply for restoration.

Background Information

Wilson was born on 15 June 1988. He began teaching religious education at St Paul’s Catholic High School on 1 September 2016, where concerns over his messages to a former pupil were informally addressed in 2017 and Colleague C reported unwanted attention to HR in 2022. His St Paul’s job ended on 16 April 2023; on 17 April 2023 he started at St Thomas More RC College. A parent reported on or around 7 November 2023 that he had engaged in inappropriate contact with former pupil Student A; he was arrested, suspended on or around 20 November 2023, and dismissed on or around 8 March 2024, with a TRA referral on 12 March 2024. In his 8 December 2025 response he admitted the facts of all allegations, though he had earlier denied sexual motivation, and the panel treated the hearing as fully contested.

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. It was a mixed outcome: several allegations were found not proved, and some proved findings — including all the proved messages to Colleague C — were found not to amount to unacceptable professional conduct or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, and are set out here as such. These are findings of professional misconduct, not criminal convictions; the decision records Wilson’s arrest but no criminal outcome.

In September 2017, while at St Paul’s, Wilson sent overly-familiar Facebook Messenger messages to former student Student H, including “Have you got the house to yourself tonight? Xxx”. The panel found them not sexual in nature but, absent a plausible innocent explanation for the persistent contact, sent in pursuit of a sexual relationship — and therefore sexually motivated.

Between February and April 2022 he sent Colleague C messages the panel found proved, including “You are a beautiful woman and a great mummy.”, “I am obviously very attracted to you but also respect you a lot as a person and as a professional” and “Or you could entertain me!!? Sorry couldn’t help myself!!”. Eleven of twelve alleged message particulars were proved, the twelfth failing only because it was dated 3 May 2022, outside the period alleged. Sitting in her personal space and brushing his legs against her were proved; an allegation he watched her without reason was not. Colleague C said he also sent her 19 images — 18 showing his naked torso, 10 partially showing his pubic region — and the panel found the messages and images sexually motivated, some sexual in nature. Yet as private messages between two adults, partly reciprocated, they did not amount to unacceptable professional conduct; his in-school conduct towards her did.

The findings that doomed Wilson concerned Student A, a former pupil under 18 at the relevant times. In summer 2022 he gave her his personal mobile number — his claim that she might have found it on his public Facebook profile was rejected — and around Christmas 2022 he invited her to meet up. On 16 April 2023 he sent her “What would you do if you were here!? Xxx”, followed by “I was thinking a really great morning fuck!! But not if you are too tired!! Xxx”, which the panel found overtly sexual. An allegation that he asked her to wear a “maid’s outfit” was not proved, the evidence placing it after his St Paul’s employment ended. Between around April and 30 October 2023 he sent Student A, or someone he thought to be Student A, a photograph of his naked torso, showing part of his pubic region; his gym “progress photo” explanation was rejected. This conduct was found sexual and/or sexually motivated. He was arrested in November 2023 in connection with it; the decision records no criminal outcome.

Public Reaction and Consequences

No mainstream press coverage carrying Wilson’s name has been located; the public record is the regulator’s published decision. The panel said the ordinary, intelligent and well-informed citizen would view his sexual and sexually motivated communication with two former students as “abhorrent and wholly unacceptable”, and stressed that his conduct escalated between 2017 and 2022/2023 despite an informal warning in 2017. Finding no meaningful insight or remorse — during the St Thomas More investigation he had minimised his behaviour — it concluded the case involved serious sexual misconduct and sexual misconduct involving a child, and recommended prohibition with immediate effect and no review period.

Current Status

The panel’s determination is dated 17 July 2026, closing a virtual hearing held from 13 to 17 July 2026. On 24 July 2026 the decision maker, Stuart Blomfield, decided on behalf of the Secretary of State to impose a prohibition order: Wilson 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 the Secretary of State decided he shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach. It takes effect when served, and he retains a right of appeal to the High Court within 28 days of notice. The decision was published on 3 August 2026.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Wilson’s teaching career is permanently over, and unlike most TRA prohibitions his offers no route back: no review period and no entitlement to apply for restoration. The panel accepted students had described him positively as a teacher but held that insufficient against repeated, escalating sexually motivated conduct that progressed, after an informal warning, to sexual communication with a child. His public record permanently carries findings of serious sexual misconduct and sexual misconduct involving a child, alongside the panel’s conclusion that he never fully appreciated the impact his messages and photograph had on Student A as a child.

Sources

• Teaching Regulation Agency, “Teacher misconduct panel outcome: Mr Thomas Wilson,” published 3 August 2026 — source