Teacher banned for life over child sex images

A former headteacher who was given a suspended jail sentence for making indecent images of children has been banned from the profession for life.

Gerard Heaton, 59, led a number of schools across west Berkshire and worked as a supply teacher in the area between 2015 and 2022.

He admitted three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of publishing an obscene article and was given an eight-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, at Reading Crown Court in March 2023.

Following a hearing held in private last month, a Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel said Heaton's "very serious" misconduct meant he could never work as a teacher again.

Heaton was arrested in May 2022 and he admitted making indecent images at Reading Magistrates' Court in January 2023. He pleaded guilty to publishing the obscene article in March 2023 at the crown court.

The indecent images related to category A, the most serious, category B and category C and he was referred to the TRA in November 2022.

Its panel found that while Heaton had shown "apparent remorse" over the impact on himself and his employer, he had "fundamentally failed to acknowledge the potential impact on the children involved".

It concluded he will never be allowed to have his teaching registration restored.

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