Lord Williams’s teacher banned from profession indefinitely

Christopher Taylor was found to have acted inappropriately towards students by a professional conduct panel earlier this month.

The 44-year-old faced several allegations relating to a two month period when he worked at Lord Williams’s School in Thame.

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The Birdcage Inn in Thame (Image: Google Maps)

This included that he put his arm around one pupil’s waist and another’s shoulder at the Birdcage Inn on the evening of March 25 last year.

In their statements to the panel, the pupils said they struck up conversation with Mr Taylor after spotting him in the Thame pub.

They reportedly made a joke about ‘BTEC not being proper A Levels’ which upset their teacher.

But it did not stop him from repeatedly telling them throughout the evening, “I’m not your teacher, you’re not my student”.

One pupil said she had felt “weird” when he put his arm around her shoulder.

In a statement, she said: “We were in the bar area and Mr Taylor came over and said ‘Fancy seeing you here’… He put his arm around my shoulder like a greeting. It didn’t feel uncomfortable but it was weird.”

A video clip, taken on the social media app Snapchat, apparently showed Mr Taylor with his arm around the waist of a pupil with the caption ‘Taylor WTF’.

In the following days, the video circulated around the school.

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A couple of days later, a parent informed the school’s designated safeguarding lead and an investigation was started by the agency that employed Mr Taylor.

On March 31, Mr Taylor told the agency he was leaving the school.

He explained to the panel that his behaviour in the video was the result of a serious sporting injury he suffered the previous month.

He was using crutches at the time, and said he put his arm around the pupil’s waist to support his weight.

He accepted to the panel it was inappropriate.

Christopher Taylor taught business studies at Lord Williams’s School in Thame

The panel considered other allegations including that Mr Taylor told a pupil, “don’t worry about being late, I don’t mind waiting for you, you’re my favourite.”

The pupil was reportedly made to feel “uncomfortable.”

The teacher was also found to have sent “threatening and/or offensive messages” to a colleague.

One message read: “I'll see you tomorrow buddy [thumbs up emoji] trust me if you f**k me over I'll ruin your life…I have many friends.”

The panel from the teaching regulation agency made its final ruling on the case on October 9.

They decided Mr Taylor should be prohibited indefinitely from teaching at any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England with a two year review period.