Primary teacher held knife to colleague's throat

A male teacher who held a knife to a female colleague's throat has been banned from teaching for life.

David Crawford, who worked at Fishburn Primary School in Stockton, on Teesside, used his arm to pin the woman to a chair before holding the butter knife to her throat and telling her he would "slash her", a disciplinary panel heard.

The incident, which happened in the school's main office in May 2020, led to Crawford being convicted of assault by magistrates.

The 58-year-old told the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) the claims against him were "dishonest" but the panel decided that he should be banned from the profession.

During a misconduct hearing last month the panel heard the woman, referred to as Witness A, joined the school in September 2019 shortly after inspectors from education watchdog Ofsted rated it as "requiring improvement".

She said she had found Crawford to be uncooperative and aggressive as he refused to follow her instructions, became angry, called her fat and sought to undermine her by stealing things from her desk.

Witness A also said that Crawford unscrewed the back of her chair, causing her to fall off when she sat down, and made her feel uncomfortable by touching her clothes, sitting on her lap and holding her leg.

Witness A said that on 4 May 2020 she was working at a computer in the school office when Crawford entered the room from behind her at about 10:15 BST and pinned her to her chair.

The woman said she felt panicked and could not move as she could feel the metal being pressed into her neck.

The panel heard Crawford commented that he was going to "slash" her before laughing and saying: "The things I could do to you girl".

The incident lasted about two minutes, according to Witness A.

Later that morning, Crawford told her he had been joking and "clowning around".

Another colleague who had been present at the time, referred to as Witness D, estimated the knife had been held to the woman's throat for about 30 seconds - leaving her appearing to be scared for her life.

Crawford was convicted of section 39 assault when the case was heard at County Durham and Darlington Magistrates' Court in August 2021.

He was fined £440 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £44 as well as costs of £620 to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Crawford, who had worked at the school since May 2005, left the month after his conviction.

The TRA hearing found that while his actions "did not involve misconduct in the course of teaching, it was a very serious offence".

Crawford "was at work in his capacity as a teacher" when the incident happened and the office door was open so pupils could have witnessed it, the panel found.

Crawford initially sought an adjournment for the hearing but his request was refused and it went ahead in his voluntary absence.

Members were told Crawford had told the school he did not accept the criminal verdict.

He said he had been waving the knife - described during the hearing as "a butter or eating knife" - as "a joke".

Decision maker Marc Cavey, on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education, issued an indefinite prohibition order banning Crawford from working in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England.

Crawford has a right of appeal to the King's Bench Division of the High Court within 28 days from the date he was notified of the order.

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