Teacher who engaged in sexual activity with student and locked her half-naked in cupboard gets lifetime teaching ban

A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) Panel found that Darryll Prew had engaged in sexual activity with a pupil on multiple occasions and, at one point, had even locked her half-naked in a cupboard.

The 54-year-old had been teaching music at Queen Mary's Grammar School in Walsall when the allegations of sexual misconduct were made against him, relating to crimes at a different school that he had worked at.

Prew had resigned from his role in November 2021 following the allegations and was subsequently jailed for two years and four months and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years following a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court in November 2022, where he admitted to six counts of sexual activity with a child.

The TRA panel hearing went ahead privately on August 6 after Prew provided the panel with a statement of agreed facts admitting guilt to the relevant offences, with the panel members chair Alan Wells, teacher panellist Jo Palmer-Tweed and lay panellist Dara Islam.

During the hearing, the panel heard how Prew had engaged in sexual activity with the pupil, who was named as Pupil A, during school hours and on school premises, as well as at the student's home, during a school trip abroad, in a field, in his car and even in a classroom.

Relating back to the criminal conviction, the report from the panel said: "The offending took place over a number of months with what was described by the judge in sentencing remarks as “very textbook grooming” taking place beforehand."

The report from the panel also looked at the necessity of imposing a prohibition order on Prew and explained that it was of the view that public confidence in the profession was likely to be damaged if Prew was allowed to continue teaching.

It said: "In considering whether to recommend to the Secretary of State that a prohibition order is appropriate, the panel had to consider the public interest, the seriousness of the behaviour and any mitigation offered by Mr Prew and whether a prohibition order is necessary and proportionate.

"Prohibition orders should not be given in order to be punitive, or to show that blame has been apportioned, although they are likely to have a punitive effect.

"There was a strong public interest consideration in respect of the safeguarding and wellbeing of pupils, given the serious finding of an ongoing inappropriate sexual relationship with a child, who was a pupil at the school in which Mr Prew taught.

"Similarly, the panel considered that public confidence in the profession could be seriously weakened if conduct such as that found against Mr Prew was not treated with the utmost seriousness when regulating the conduct of the profession.

"The panel was of the view that a strong public interest consideration in declaring proper standards of conduct in the profession was also present as the conduct found against Mr Prew was outside that which could reasonably be tolerated."

The panel also determined that Prew's actions were deliberate and that during his sentencing, he had shown no remorse for his actions, even after pleading guilty.

The TRA panel found the conduct of Prew "fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession" and said that "findings of misconduct are particularly serious as they include a finding of a relevant conviction for abuse of a position of trust in that he had sexual intercourse with a child."

The panel also concluded that Prew had the opportunity to report his offending to police at the time but failed to do so.

In summing up, the TRA panel put a prohibition order on Prew which sees him prohibited from teaching indefinitely and unable to teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England as of August 7.

To read the full report and to see the reasons for the decision by the panel, click here