Schools worker ‘failed to tell employers about stalking allegation’

A COUNCIL only found out one of its school workers had been charged with stalking after receiving an anonymous letter, a fitness to practise committee heard.

Rhondda Cynon Taff council received the letter in May last year regarding Leon Bansal, who was employed as a school learning support worker responsible for coordinating lunchtime and after-school activities.

The Education Workforce Council committee heard the author of the letter said he or she “could not believe [Bansal] was still working with kids”.

Bansal also allegedly failed to disclose he had a caution for possessing Class A drugs.

Presenting officer Ashanti Jade Walton said: “I submit the registered person was, in fact, burying his head in the sand.”

Investigating officer Caron Hughes said Bansal started working for the council in 2009 as a youth worker.

He began his learning support role in 2014 and was responsible for coordinating sporting activities for young people aged between 11 and 25. Bansal initially worked in one secondary school and later two or three.

Ms Walton said Bansal received a caution in October 2013 from South Wales Police for disorderly behaviour after getting into a fight at a weekend. He disclosed that caution.

But the presenting officer said he failed to tell his employer between February 2015 and November 2016 about a caution from Dyfed-Powys Police for possessing a Class A drug.

The committee heard he received the caution on February 22, 2015, and should have told his manager about it the next day he was in work.

Ms Walton said the caution showed up on his Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

When he was interviewed Bansal said he did not realise he should have disclosed the caution, adding he thought he only needed to disclose convictions. He said: “I wanted to forget about it. I was embarrassed by it.”

Ms Hutcheon said she received an anonymous letter through the post in May 2017 claiming Bansal had been charged with a “serious harassment crime”.

It was alleged he did not inform his employer between March and June 2017 that he had been charged with stalking and summoned to attend court for that offence.

The committee heard it was council policy that employees must notify senior management if they are charged with a criminal offence.

Asked why he did not tell his line manager, Bansal said it “did not cross his mind”.

He accepted there had been an incident involving an ex-partner but claimed he was innocent.

Bansal was sentenced on June 1 last year at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court to 10 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, for stalking.

The charge related to the period between November 28, 2016, and December 9, 2016. He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and a five-year restraining order was imposed.

Senior HR officer Nicole Pearce said Bansal told her he did not think he needed to tell his employer because he felt it was a “personal matter” not a “work issue”.

He told her he was not guilty and wanted to “fight it all the way”, adding he thought he only needed to disclose the matter if he was convicted.

It is alleged Bansal’s actions demonstrated a lack of integrity and were dishonest. He is accused of unacceptable professional conduct.

The hearing continues.