A headteacher who offered cocaine to a colleague, attempted to put his hand down a member of staff’s trousers and joked that an employee requesting leave had chlamydia has escaped being struck off.
A professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency said there was a “strong public interest” in keeping Richard Main in the profession.
Mr Main was head of Bourton Meadow Academy, a primary school in Buckinghamshire. A member of staff - referred to as “Individual 2” - told the panel that he offered her cocaine on the night of a staff party in December 2015.
“The panel heard oral evidence from Individual 2 who stated that following the staff party, she went to Mr Main’s room to collect some money which needed to be passed to a colleague,” the decision notice states.
“Whilst she was in the room, Individual 2 stated that Mr Main offered her a drink and cocaine. Individual 2 confirmed that she did not see any cocaine in the room.”
Mr Main told the panel that he did “not take illegal drugs, does not deal in drugs and would not know how to purchase drugs”.
He accepted that Individual 2’s account of the evening was within the realm of possibility. He said “he did not think it likely that he offered her cocaine” and that “he may have made a joke about cocaine but there was no intent to provide cocaine”.
However, the panel said that Individual 2 was a credible witness and found the allegation “proven on the balance of probabilities”.
‘One-off occurrence’
In a second incident at a staff party in July 2016, another employee - “Individual 1” - claimed that Mr Main had attempted to put his hands down her trousers.
The decision notice states: “Mr Main admitted this allegation in oral evidence, confirming he was intoxicated at the staff party so could not remember the event itself but that he accepted Individual 1’s account of what happened.”
Individual 1 told the panel that Mr Main became “overfamiliar with her” and “attempted to put his hand down the back of her trousers”. She said she “recoiled at this contact and felt uncomfortable”.
She gave evidence to the panel that “it was a one-off occurrence that was not repeated again and I never felt uncomfortable in the workplace”. She also “held Mr Main in high regard at the school” and had a “respectful working relationship” with him.
In a third incident, Mr Main was asked for time off to attend an emergency medical appointment by a female member of staff, and responded by saying “Why, do you have chlamydia or something?”
In his oral evidence, he accepted he made an “inappropriate joke” and said he apologised to her shortly after the comment.
The panel also highlighted further cases where Mr Main said that a member of staff wanted to share work with another colleague because “you just want to get into bed with [them]”.
The member of staff said she was not shocked or offended by this comment and that it was “more or less accepted that this was the sort of thing that Richard would say”.
‘Serious misconduct’
Mr Main was also found to have told a member of staff to “shut the fuck up” at a party and to have been difficult to contact during an emergency that arose during a school trip when he was the 24 hour emergency contact.
The panel said that Mr Main’s standards “fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession”.
It said that “Mr Main’s actions of inappropriate physical contact with a teacher, offering drugs to a teacher (even if this was made as a joke), and dealing insensitively with a request for time off for an emergency doctor’s appointment” represented “serious misconduct”.
However, it said there was a “strong public interest in retaining the teacher in the profession, since no doubt has been cast upon Mr Main’s abilities as an educator and he is able to make a valuable contribution to the profession”.
The panel said his actions “constituted a misguided and ill-advised attempt to implement a friendly, open culture within the school.”
The education secretary’s representative accepted the panel’s recommendation not to issue him with a prohibition order.
