Banned: Teacher who called pupils c**** on Facebook

Kevin Regester’s ‘racist and offensive’ social media posts included religious caricatures and references to pupil year groups
17th August 2018, 5:34pm

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Banned: Teacher who called pupils c**** on Facebook

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/banned-teacher-who-called-pupils-c-facebook
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A supply teacher who referred to his pupils as “cunts” and posted “racist” pictures on Facebook has been banned from the profession for life.

Kevin Regester, 52, was suspended from teaching secondary school students at Thomas Estley Community College in the Leicestershire village of Broughton Astley after a parent complained about offensive material found on the social media site.

He admitted the account, in the name of “Kev Raven”, belonged to him in correspondence with the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).

Department for Education official Alan Meyrick decided Mr Regester should be banned from teaching for life after a professional conduct panel found his actions amounted to “unacceptable professional conduct” and “conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute”.

A report published today details comments made on his public Facebook page, including: “One seriously mixed day. 2nd set Y10. The kids are CUNTS...Y9set2 excelled themselves to piss off. One little scrote.”

Another read: “Yesterday was about ripping new cunts & arseholes. Today: ripping off heads & shitting down necks! All in the name of education.”

The panel also highlighted photographs, including one showing a group of apparently Muslim men holding photo-shopped placards stating: “Fuck it! I want a ham sandwich”, “I love pork pies” and “Bum sex is very naughty.”

Another contained a slogan stating: “What’s the difference between cigarettes and Islamic Jihadists? You can only get 200 cigarettes into the UK before the authorities start asking questions.”

Mr Regester, who did not attend the hearing in Coventry, said in correspondence that “offence is a perspective issue”, adding that he no longer works as a teacher and has no wish to return to the profession.

“I may have expressed intolerance towards regimes and practices that themselves promote general intolerance,” he wrote.

“It is my belief that I, my family and friends, have the right to live in a society that is free from oppression.”

But the panel found the case related to his expression of comments on a public forum rather than any views he may have held.

The report states: “In the panel’s view, the comments included extreme swear words used repeatedly, including direct reference to pupil year groups, and religious caricatures that could only be reasonably determined as racist considering their content.

“It was clear that the comments were offensive and racist.”

It adds: “In the panel’s view, all persons in society are entitled to respect for their rights and beliefs.

“The use of offensive and racist language, especially when directed at particular groups of people, including children whom he taught, would not be utilised by someone with tolerance and respect for others.”

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