Teacher banned after lying about previous job and accusing pupil of bullying

A London teacher has been banned from the profession after he spun a web of lies and accused a young pupil of being a bully. Ben Singh Sowerby, 36, applied for a job at Corbets Tey School in February 2020 but lied about wage, previous role and supplied false references.

Mr Sowerby got the job at Corbets Tey, a special school in Upminster, but in November 2020 his house of cards began to collapse and he resigned. He was referred to the Teaching Regulation Agency and last month (March 2022) a misconduct hearing was held over allegations against him.

The hearing was told that on his application for Corbets Tey Mr Sowerby said he had previously held the role of Acting Deputy Head Teacher at East London Independent School (ELIS), which was not true. He also stated that his salary at ELIS was £45,000 when his true salary was £40,695. His dishonesty earned him a pay rise to £47,300 when he got the job.

READ MORE: Top London private school where parents pay £20k a year fails safeguarding inspection



Download the MyLondon app for the latest news and breaking updates

Get the latest London news straight on your phone without having to open your browser – and get all the latest breaking news as notifications on your screen.

The MyLondon app gives you all the stories you need to help you keep on top of what’s happening in the best city ever.

You can download it on Android here and Apple here.

When the application form asked him to provide the contact details of his line manager, he provided the contact details of two teachers – neither of whom were his line manager and one of whom didn’t even work at ELIS. The panel found that his behaviour “was both dishonest and lacked integrity” which gave them “grave doubts as to Mr Sowerby’s ability and professionalism”.

The tribunal also heard that on or around September 23, 2020, Mr Sowerby had been “inappropriate” during telephone calls with parents. He disclosed children’s personal details in relation to individual needs and made unfounded allegations of bullying by a child.

He also continued to lie, this time to parents rather than to the school. He told parents that he had previously been rated “outstanding” as a teacher by Ofsted, when this wasn’t true.

Mr Sowerby denied all the allegations against him. He told the panel that he had been under “great hassle” when working, and that his actual previous salary had been just over £40,000, but he believed them to be in the same salary range and “was not attempting to mislead” anyone.

However, the panel found all allegations against Mr Sowerby proven. A misconduct report said: “The panel considered that Mr Sowerby’s actions were deliberate. There was no evidence to suggest that Mr Sowerby was acting under duress. It was submitted on his behalf that Mr Sowerby’s actions arose as a result of stress he was under whilst at his previous school and that he was suffering pain due to an injury sustained at work during that period. The panel did not, however, consider that those factors adequately explained, or justified, the misconduct that was found proven.”

A prohibition order was imposed meaning Mr Sowerby will be barred from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach at any school or sixth form college. A review will take place in five years.

What is happening where you live? Find out by adding your postcode or visit InYourArea



At MyLondon, we want to make sure you get the latest and greatest from across the capital.

And one way you can do that is by getting the best news, reviews and features from wherever you are straight to your inbox with our free email newsletters.

We have seven newsletters you can currently sign up for – including a different one for each part of London, as well as an EastEnders one for all the gossip from Albert Square, and a London Underground one to keep you up to date on the latest transport news.

The local newsletters go out twice a day and send the latest stories straight to your inbox.

From community stories and news covering every borough of London to celebrity and lifestyle stories, we’ll make sure you get the very best every day.

To sign up to any of our newsletters, simply follow this link and select the newsletter that’s right for you.

And to really customise your news experience on the go, you can download our top-rated free apps for iPhone and Android. Find out more here.

For all the latest World News Click Here 

 For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News

Read original article here

Denial of responsibility! TheDailyCheck is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected] The content will be deleted within 24 hours.