Teacher was 'unfairly sacked' after claims

DHSG BRANDED POTENTIALLY UNSAFE FOR MALE TEACHERS

- WILLIAM TELFORD

DEVONPORT High School for Girls has been branded as a potentially unsafe place for men to work, after a teacher was unfairly sacked when girl students made dubious allegations he sexually assaulted them.

Maths and computing teacher Jonathan Hawker lost his job and was arrested by police who raided his home and seized his laptop, phone and other electronic equipment, after girls said he had inappropriately touched them in class.

But police and crown prosecutors dropped the charges, saying there was no chance of a conviction. Mr Hawker, who denied all the "career-ending" allegations and had an unblemished disciplinary record before they were made, was still sacked for gross misconduct.

He took the grammar school to an employment tribunal, which found the investigation was flawed and unfair to him and based on doubtful evidence.

It did not give sufficient weight to the statements of two girl students who said the teacher's accusers had told them they "tried to get Mr Hawker fired for fun" by saying he had touched their thighs and sexually assaulted them. Employment Judge Street awarded Mr Hawker £44,868, after the tribunal found he had been unfairly dismissed.