Teacher Receives Professional Ban Following Leg-Breaking Incident Outside Bar

Jonathan Drew, a 36-year-old teacher, has been indefinitely prohibited from the teaching profession, subject to a four-year review period. This ruling was issued by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) after an incident outside a bar where he broke a man’s leg by standing on it. This decision follows Mr. Drew’s guilty plea to inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent at Nottingham Crown Court in 2022. The injury to the man occurred in December 2019, at which time Mr. Drew was employed as a teacher in Nottingham. The TRA stated: “The panel finds that the conduct of Mr Drew fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.” The professional conduct panel was informed that on 20 December 2019, an individual had been removed from a bar and was being restrained by door staff. Mr. Drew “involved himself in the incident by standing on this individual’s legs, which resulted in injury to this individual, which subsequently required this individual to undergo surgery,” according to the panel’s findings. At the time of the event, Mr. Drew was teaching at Westbury Academy, located in Bilborough, Nottingham. The TRA report, released this week, noted that he informed both the police and the school’s head teacher about his participation in the incident. He maintained that it had no impact on his capacity to work with children, describing it as “isolated” and “uncharacteristic,” and asserting it was not directly connected to his profession. The school reached out to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), an entity responsible for handling accusations against adults employed with children, as well as the police. Following these communications, “it was agreed that [he] would continue working with the school as [he] posed no threat to the children or staff.” This arrangement persisted until charges were filed against him in 2022, as documented by the TRA. In August 2022, Mr. Drew confessed to the offense. That October, he received an eight-month prison sentence, which was suspended for 12 months. Additionally, he was mandated to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, pay £6,000 in compensation, and a victim surcharge of £14. The panel observed that the offenses occurred outside an educational environment and did not involve any students or school personnel. “Nevertheless… the panel decided that Mr Drew’s conviction, which included violence towards another member of the public, was relevant to his profession as a teacher,” the report indicated.