Teacher barred from profession following child sex offence conviction

A former junior teacher has been permanently excluded from the teaching profession subsequent to receiving a prison sentence exceeding three years for child sex offences. Liam I’Anson-North received an indefinite prohibition from teaching following a review conducted by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA). The 30-year-old individual, previously a teacher in Dewsbury, was convicted at Leeds Crown Court in June 2023 on three counts related to online child sex offences. A conduct panel determined that Liam I’Anson-North exhibited no apparent remorse after his conviction. The TRA panel was informed that the former educator, who hails from Middleton in Rochdale, was apprehended by a police unit focused on safeguarding vulnerable children online. His actions initially surfaced in mid-2021 when an alias account, established by I’Anson-North, initiated contact through social media with an account managed by West Yorkshire Police. During the hearing, it was revealed that he believed he was communicating online with a 13-year-old girl, but was actually interacting with an undercover police officer. He was taken into custody by authorities in June 2021 at Ravensthorpe CE Junior School in Dewsbury, his place of employment. Subsequently, he faced charges and, following a trial, was found guilty of trying to engage in sexual communication with a child and two counts of attempting to encourage a child to participate in sexual activity. A sentence of three years and four months in prison was imposed upon him. The panel observed that he had asserted his innocence at an earlier panel hearing, declaring, “due to a guilty verdict I have had to accept the allegations.” It was further acknowledged that there was “no evidence to suggest he was acting under extreme duress,” and that he had been informed multiple times that the individual he was “communicating with online was 13 years old.” Marc Cavey, the decision-maker, ruled that I’Anson-North would be permanently prohibited from teaching in any school, sixth form college, appropriate youth accommodation, or children’s home within England, and would not possess the right to seek reinstatement of his teaching eligibility. In his concluding remarks, he stated that there was “an extremely strong public interest consideration in respect of the safeguarding and wellbeing of pupils and protection of other members of the public.” Mr. Cavey commented that given a “lack of evidence of insight and remorse, in my judgment, there is a risk of a repetition of this behaviour in the future.” I’Anson-North is granted a period of 28 days to lodge an appeal against this ruling with the King’s Bench Division of the High Court.