Derbyshire school teacher banned after conviction for child sex offences

Craig White has been banned from the profession for life after a disciplinary hearing said he had ‘no insight’ as to the consequences of his offences.

The 26 year old, who taught at the Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Ashbourne, was convicted of two child sex offences in April 2021 having been arrested on just his second day as a qualified teacher.

White had been convicted of one charge of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child and a further charge of making an indecent image, or pseudo-image, of a child.

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Mr White had been communicating with a decoy who purported to be a child and was ‘attempting to make preparations to meet the child for a sexual purpose’.

He was ordered to complete 40 days of rehabilitation as part of a two year community order, made subject to a sexual harm prevention order, and placed on the sex offenders register for a period of five years. He was also instructed to pay £340 in cost and a victim surcharge of £90.

But White was back before court last August after failing to meet the terms of his community order and so was handed a suspended jail term of 12 months in addition to 80 hours of unpaid work and a further £200 in costs.

The former teacher refused to turn up to the Teaching Regulation Agency hearing but provided written evidence that the offences occurred ‘following the breakdown of a personal relationship that left (him) distraught and not thinking clearly’.

The panel concluded: “There was no evidence to suggest that Mr White, some four years after he was convicted of the relevant offences, has true insight about his conduct and why it is incompatible with the standards upheld by the teaching profession, or that he understands the potential consequences for the child.

"Most significantly, his concealment of the nature of his convictions from friends, family and his employer in breach of the requirements of his community order demonstrate that Mr White’s path to developing insight is one that he has struggled with and casts doubt upon the extent to which his representations can be relied upon.”

Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School has been approached for comment.