Teacher who dragged disruptive student across classroom by his hood allowed to stay in profession

A former Lynn maths teacher has been let off by an education watchdog after using “excessive force” on a “disruptive” student.Darryl Roberts, who previously taught at King’s Lynn Academy in Gaywood, has been allowed to stay in the profession following an incident back in June 2023 which saw him take hold of the hood of a pupil’s coat and drag him out of the classroom.Mr Roberts, who now lives in South Africa, was set to appear before a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel on Monday, January 20, however, he did not show up despite being aware of the option to attend virtually.

The allegations stated that he made inappropriate contact and/or used excessive physical force on a pupil and acted against child protection and/or safeguarding guidance.At the time of the incident, Mr Roberts was teaching a class of Year 7 students when Pupil A – who was not supposed to be in the lesson – entered the classroom through a back door and hid under a desk without the teacher’s knowledge after several instances of disruptive behaviour.The panel heard that Mr Roberts eventually became aware of Pupil A being in the room when the student began whistling. “When told to come out he ignored me, so I took the hood of his coat and dragged him out the classroom,” the teacher’s statement read.“In the process, his water pistol fell out his coat so I confiscated it. “He then threw the back door open again and shouted at me that I am not allowed to drag him by his coat and that he wanted his water pistol back.“When I refused to give back the water pistol, he ripped the poster off my door and took one of the chairs from my classroom and swore at me.”However, during an interview, Pupil A said that the teacher had hit him with a chair before dragging him across the classroom. At a later date, the student said that it made him feel “shaky” but he held in his cry for fear of people taking “the mick” out of him.Mr Roberts left the school the following month.With all of the allegations proven, the panel decided that the instructor had breached the Teachers’ Standards and his conduct fell significantly short of what is expected of the profession.The TRA noted that Roberts did have a previously good work history and accepted that the incident was “out of character”. As a result, it was decided that there was a public interest in keeping the teacher in the profession.On behalf of the secretary of state, chief executive of the TRA Marc Cavey said: “Given that the nature and severity of the behaviour were at the less serious end of the possible spectrum and, having considered the mitigating factors that were present, the panel determined that a recommendation for a prohibition order would not be appropriate in this case.”