An “experienced” primary school teacher tried to send himself an intimate video of a colleague after breaking into her phone while she was teaching a class. Brendon Fallows, 37, has been banned from teaching after he was found guilty of misconduct following the incident.
He had been a maths teacher at Lady Bay Primary School for more than 10 years, having joined in September 2013. A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel was told that the staff member was in a school office at the same time as Mr Fallows on October 5, 2023, before she went to teach a class at 2.15pm.
She left her phone in her coat, which was hanging over a chair in the office, as she had always done. The panel was told that the phone was locked and that the office could only be accessed via a key code by other members of staff.
When she next checked her phone at 5.15pm, she saw a WhatsApp message had been sent to a number that was not in her contacts. At first, she thought she might have tried to send the message by mistake but then realised the thumbnail of the video showed skin.
As it was “something she would not want people to see”, she deleted the message “so quickly” so that it wouldn’t send. She noticed that the message had tried to send at 3.16pm, when she would have been teaching, her phone being in the office where Mr Fallows was.
She added that the WhatsApp profile picture in the chat looked like Mr Fallows and was left “shocked” before reporting the incident the next day. Mr Fallows told the panel that it was clear to see his colleague’s phone hanging in the pocket of her coat and that he “did not rummage or search”.
He gained access to the phone after guessing her password after looking at her Instagram account to find out her date of birth. Mr Fallows stated that he had just looked at photos and videos and that there was a thumbnail of a video on her phone, and he had tried to send it to himself to view on his phone.
The panel was told Mr Fallows was “acting out of character and became carried away by impulse and a lack of reasoning”. He explained that he had “allowed curiosity to be overtaken by adrenaline and complete lack of judgement or awareness of impact and consequence”.
He added he was “aware of the deep impact [his] behaviour has had and will be likely to continue to have on the victim of [his] actions, as well as the school. It is clear that [he] violated the trust and privacy of the victim, which will have caused a staggering amount of upset, anger and mistrust, as well as breaking the sense of safety in the workplace”.
Following the panel, which was held in private, a recommendation to the Secretary of State was made that Mr Fallows should be the subject of a prohibition order, with a review period of two years. This means that he is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and can’t teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.
The panel said: “The panel took into account the way the teaching profession is viewed by others and considered the influence that teachers may have on pupils, parents and others in the community. The panel also took account of the uniquely influential role that teachers can hold in pupils’ lives and the fact that pupils must be able to view teachers as role models in the way they behave.
“The panel found that such misconduct towards a colleague would likely harm the public’s confidence in the teaching profession, as teamwork among teachers is a vital element of teaching as a professional and that the public would require all members of the profession to have respect for their fellow teachers.”
The panel noted that the only explanation given for Mr Fallows’ behaviour was that he had some attraction to his colleague and that his personal and professional circumstances had impacted on his behaviour.
Lady Bay Primary school head teacher, Steve Border, said: “We are aware that the Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA) has recently published a report concerning a former member of staff. When the matter occurred in October 2023, immediate action was taken by the school, in line with HR and safeguarding procedures and information was then passed to the relevant bodies, including the TRA.
“The individual concerned has not been on school premises since that time and left employment in December 2023. The school provided support to those affected and measures were taken to ensure that the disruption to children’s education was minimised.”