By Annabal Bagdi,Josh Pennington
Copyright birminghammail
A special school teacher who launched a horrific attack on a child in a classroom has been banned from teaching. Gary Foster was caught on CCTV grabbing a child before he ‘pushed him into a chair’ and pinned him against a wall. The 46-year-old was then seen ‘repeatedly hitting him against the wall’. The pupil had ‘not offered any violence’ and ‘looked scared when grabbed’. Now, a Teaching Regulation Agency professional conduct panel has said that Foster breached teaching standards and has banned him from teaching indefinitely. READ MORE: King Charles used ‘secret weapon for Prince Harry meeting’ Foster, from Morecambe, taught at Crookhey Hall School, Cockerham, in Lancashire, Manchester Evening News reports. The school provides education for children with social, emotional and mental health needs. Foster had taught at the school for 13 years before the incident on December 5, 2022. The school launched an internal investigation and reported the incident to police. Foster was jailed for 10 weeks for battery at Lancashire Magistrates’ Court in August 2023. The teacher ‘manhandled a child three times and caused physical harm and distress’, a report from the panel read. Marc Cavey, decision maker on the panel, said in the report: “The panel considered the contents of the police report which described the CCTV footage showed Foster ‘grabbed (Pupil A) by the shoulder of his coat roughly and pushed him into the chair’, then ‘grabs him by the jacket and pushes him against the corner of the room near the door’ and ‘(Pupil A) looks scared when he is grabbed’. “The police report then states ‘it appears he is hitting him against the wall repeatedly’. “The police report further confirmed that Pupil A had ‘not offered any violence’, and that the ‘CCTV clearly shows the defendant assaulting the victim’.” Foster was made subject to a prohibition order. This means he is now banned from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth-form college, relevant youth accommodation, or children’s home in England. In a written statement to the panel, Foster said: “I truly regret this incident and I hope the pupil involved has gone on to prosper within the school.” Mr Cavey said: “As described above, in the panel’s view Foster has demonstrated little remorse and no insight into his actions. “And bearing in mind Foster was an experienced teacher in that setting who undertook regular training, the panel considered the risk of repetition of such behaviour by Foster to be high. “In the light of the panel’s findings against Foster, which involved a conviction of an offence of serious violence against a pupil which led to a term of imprisonment, there was a strong public interest consideration in the safeguarding and wellbeing of pupils and the protection of other members of the public.” Don’t miss the biggest and breaking stories by signing up to the BirminghamLive newsletter here .
