Cornwall Street’s Gurpreet Rheel (instructed by Andrew Campbell of Thompsons solicitors) has secured the acquittal of a teacher who was charged by his regulator, the Teaching Regulation Agency, with allegations relating to his failure to inform various authorities of bruising found on a child and failing to take reasonable steps to protect the child’s welfare. The conduct alleged could have resulted in Gurpreet’s client being prohibited from teaching with potential ramifications on his private family life.
Gurpreet’s client had admitted some allegations but the panel was persuaded after hearing oral evidence and detailed submissions during the course of a three day hearing, that Gurpreet’s client had not failed to take reasonable steps to protect the child’s welfare. The panel was particularly persuaded by the argument that whilst specific authorities were not informed of the bruising, this did not mean that Gurpreet’s client took no reasonable action at all when considering the case within its context. As a result, whilst the panel accepted the teacher’s admissions in respect of some of the factual allegations, it concluded that such admitted conduct was not serious to justify any finding of unacceptable professional conduct and/or behaviour to bring the teaching profession into disrepute. Gurpreet’s client was therefore able to preserve a clean teaching record.