News Beat
Teacher banned after ‘sex-motivated ’ pupil relationship
Mark David Rowley, 56, began working at Hazel Wood High School on Hazel Ave in September 2013.
A teacher misconduct panel hearing heard that between May and October 2022, he sent a string of lewd messages to a pupil.
He also called them ‘attractive’ and told them how he ‘dreamt about cuddling with no clothes on’.
Mr Rowley gave the student, named only as Pupil A, his personal contact details and a handwritten letter which instigated a ‘sexually motivated’ relationship.
A series of sexual messages from Mr Rowley were extracted during a police download of his phone.
He also discussed ‘personal matters’ with them during various email exchanges and tagged them in a TikTok video in which he was seen ‘licking his lips and pouting’ to the song ‘Laid’ by James.
The teacher contacted Pupil A further on the platform, sending them direct messages about a dream he had ‘of kissing them all over their body, cuddling with no clothes on and having sex.’
He had asked Pupil A to send him a photograph while they were in a towel and stated that he ‘loved’ them.
In an email dated August 28, 2022, Pupil A told Mr Rowley he was “starting to scare the sh*t” out of them.
They wrote: “I’ve blocked u many times and u make accounts to message me, request me on, it’s just too much and I’d starting to scare the sh*t out of me, I don’t have to explain myself on why I blocked u and didn’t speak to u, maybe cause ur my teacher?
“The only reason I unblocked u was to tell u my grades CAUSE UR MY TEACHER AND I HAVE THAT LEVEL OF RESPECT TO TELL U WHAT I GOT.”
Mr Rowley replied: “As I said, I created those alternative accounts to see if u would block me – I needed to know if u had a problem with me or something.”
In a police interview, Mr Rowley admitted to finding Pupil A attractive and that some of the messages were ‘flirty’ but he denied that they were sexual.
Mr Rowley was suspended in June 2022 and resigned from his role at Hazel Wood High School, part of Oak Learning Partnership, in September 2022.
Following his suspension, the former teacher asked Pupil A to ‘destroy’ the letter, saying it would be “would be embarrassing/dangerous if someone else found it.”
He later deleted his TikTok account to ‘remove’ the messages between them.
In a text message, he told them: “But we haven’t done anything – contact yes, talked yes but not met or done anything. Try to get and delete if u can.”
He also asked them to “stick to the story … we need to stick to what we said”.
The panel found that these messages demonstrated Mr Rowley applying pressure on Pupil A in an attempt to influence their account to the police and that he was “seeking to protect his own position”.
Mr Rowley admitted to deleting messages as he “knew that it was wrong and he could get into trouble”.
The panel found he demonstrated no genuine remorse for his actions.
Mr Rowley is now prohibited from teaching indefinitely, meaning he is not allowed to teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.
Mr Rowley has 28 days to appeal the decision.
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A spokesperson for Oak Learning Partnership said: “At Hazel Wood High School and at all Oak Learning Partnership schools, the safety and wellbeing of our pupils is our highest priority.
“Our safeguarding policies, procedures, training and quality assurance processes ensure we have a strong culture of safeguarding in all our schools.
“As a result of this, pupils, parents and staff feel confident in reporting any concerns, and they are then dealt with urgently and robustly.
“This individual has not worked at Hazel Wood High School or within the Trust since June 22, 2022, and we fully cooperated with all relevant authorities throughout their investigation.”
