Teacher banned after taking pics up pupil’s skirt

A NORTH Tyneside teacher who took upskirt photos of a vulnerable girl showed ‘no remorse’ for his actions.

Now Alan Finlay has been banned from the profession over his behaviour towards the pupil.

Finlay, 74, was employed at North Tyneside Council’s Virtual School, an educational support system for all the children in care across the borough, from August 2009 to October 2016, according to a prohibition order published by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).

He was suspended in April 2016 and sacked six months later following a disciplinary hearing after a student, referred to as ‘Pupil A’, raised allegations about his conduct, which was said to have left her “uncomfortable to the point of tears”.

The teacher had been employed to help the girl with maths in the run-up to her GCSEs, a TRA professional conduct panel heard.

Instead, he took pictures of her legs, face and “one or more photographs up her skirt” from underneath the desk during their sessions, and told her he was “looking into [her] beautiful brown eyes”. A total of 30 images were found on his device, while he also told the teenager he would “cry” at the thought of “a pretty girl like you going into the Army”.

The girl, who had previously been a victim of grooming through Facebook, “initially thought Mr Finlay was being friendly”, but soon became so uncomfortable she didn’t want to see him again. Her concerns were reported to the police, but no action was taken.

Explaining its decision to permanently ban Finlay from teaching, the TRA panel said: “Making comments about Pupil A’s features and...taking images of her body... clearly transgressed all boundaries, not just professional boundaries.

“Pupil A described, in a detailed way, how Mr Finlay’s behaviour made her feel increasingly uncomfortable. The panel found that Mr Finlay’s comments to Pupil A, which were made during the early one-to-one sessions, may have paved the way for his later actions, of taking photos of Pupil A.”

The panel said Pupil A was a “vulnerable student” and that Finlay had been “aware of her vulnerabilities”. Despite the impact on the girl, the panel said: there was “no evidence of regret or remorse about taking the photographs, including in relation to the impact of taking those photographs on Pupil A”.

It added: “The focus has been on the impact on himself and his family.

“Pupil A became increasingly concerned about Mr Finlay’s behaviour and became upset at the thought of having to see him again. Pupil A was a vulnerable student, and the panel noted that Pupil A had recently been groomed through Facebook and considered that Mr Finlay’s actions would have compounded Pupil A’s vulnerable state of mind”.

The ex-educator admitted his behaviour had been “sexually motivated”.

A ruling on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education agreed with the panel’s recommendation that Finlay should be indefinitely banned from teaching and will not be entitled to apply to restore his ability to teach.

Jacqui Old, director of children’s services at North Tyneside Council, said: “As soon as these allegations were made, we acted immediately in line with our robust procedures.”