Retired principals of St Annes Grammar School banned over pupil abuse case

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) said Sheila and Stephen Welsby, of St Annes College Grammar School, who retired four years ago, "breached safeguarding obligations" in the case in 2018.

A panel heard the accused teacher had told them that he loved the pupil concerned and the TRA recommended an indefinite ban.

The couple have a right to appeal within 28 days.

The accused teacher, referred to as ‘Individual X’ by the panel, was later convicted of sexual offences with a child, the professional conduct panel heard.

In two separate conduct hearings, it found the married couple's misconduct amounted to both "unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute".

Mrs Welsby, 77, who was also the designated safeguarding lead, and Mr Welsby, 78, both failed to promptly report the allegations made in July 2018 to the local authority or the police, the panel heard.

The panel said within two hours the couple, who both started teaching in 1967, had a meeting with Individual X and notified him of the claims.

It said that in the meeting, Individual X made various admissions including confirming when the communications with the victim had started, and how he had hoped one day he and the pupil could be together and that he loved her.

Police were not informed of the admissions until September, said the panel, which expressed concerns that at no point during her evidence did Mrs Welsby "express any empathy" for the pupil, or the potential consequences her actions might have had on the pupil or the police investigation.

The panel said she "failed to act in the best interests of the child concerned".

Mr Welsby admitted to the hearing that his immediate response to the allegations was he did not believe them and that he still questioned the motives of the parent of the pupil concerned, who reported the matter to the school.

The secretary of state approved the panel's recommendation that both Mr and Mrs Welsby be prohibited from teaching indefinitely.

The school on Clifton Drive South has around 100 pupils aged from two to 18.