Miss Nicole Finch

The Secretary of State does not make these decisions themselves. They are made by a senior official on the recommendation of an independent panel.

Teacher's name: Miss Nicole Finch

Teacher reference number: 2358976

Teacher's date of birth: 17 September 1992

Location teacher worked: Birmingham, West Midlands

Date of professional conduct panel: 5 December 2024 to 6 December 2024

Outcome type: Prohibition order

Notice is hereby given that, in accordance with The Teacher's’ Disciplinary (England) Regulations 2012, a professional conduct panel was convened to consider the case of Miss Nicole Finch formerly employed in Birmingham, West Midlands.

Teacher misconduct

Ground Floor, South

Cheylesmore House

5 Quinton RoadCoventryCV1 2WT

Email TRA.Casework@education.gov.uk

Telephone 020 7593 5393

Information about regulating the teaching profession and the process for dealing with serious teacher misconduct.

Miss Nicole Finch: Professional conduct panel hearing outcome Panel decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education December 2024 2 Contents Introduction 3 Allegations 4 Preliminary applications 5 Summary of evidence 5 Documents 5 Witnesses 5 Decision and reasons 5 Findings of fact 6 Panel’s recommendation to the Secretary of State 9 Decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State 12 3 Professional conduct panel decision and recommendations, and decision on behalf of the Secretary of State Teacher: Miss Nicole Finch Teacher date of Birth: 17 September 1992 TRA reference: 21522 Date of determination: 6 December 2024 Former employer: Newbury Independent School, Birmingham Introduction A professional conduct panel (“the panel”) of the Teaching Regulation Agency (“the TRA”) convened online via MS Teams on 5 and 6 December 2024 to consider the case of Miss Finch. The panel members were Mrs Gemma Hutchinson (teacher panellist – in the chair), Mr Nathan Cole (teacher panellist) and Ms Chloe Nash (lay panellist). The legal adviser to the panel was Ms Clare Strickland of Blake Morgan solicitors. The presenting officer for the TRA was Mr Mark Millin of Kingsley Napley solicitors. Miss Finch was present and was not represented. The hearing took place in public and was recorded. 4 Allegations The panel considered the allegations set out in the notice of hearing dated 6 August 2024. It was alleged that Miss Finch was guilty of having been convicted of a relevant offence, in that: 1. On or around 9 June 2015 she was convicted at Birmingham and Solihull Magistrates Court of the following offence: a. Making off without paying on 29/04/2015, contrary to the Theft Act 1978 s.3 2. On or around 3 November 2020 she was convicted at Worcestershire Magistrates Court of the following offences: a. Using vehicle whilst uninsured, contrary to the Road Traffic Act 1988 s.143 (2) b. Driving otherwise than in accordance with a license, contrary to the Road Traffic Act 1988 s. 87 (1) c. Resist or obstruct a constable, contrary to the Police Act 1996 s. 89 (2) d. Possess/control a false/improperly obtained another person’s identity document, contrary to the Identity Documents Act 2010 s. 6 3. On or around 16 November 2021 she was convicted at Kidderminster Magistrates Court of the following offences: a. Driving Whilst disqualified on 29 September 2021, contrary to the Road Traffic Act 1988 s. 103 (1) (b) b. Using vehicle whilst uninsured on 29 September 2021, contrary to the Road Traffic Act 1988 s.143 (2) 4. On or around 9 March 2021 she was convicted at Leicester Crown Court of the following offences: a. Bring/throw/otherwise convey a list A article into/out of prison on 9 February 2019, contrary to the Prison Act S. 40b (1) (a). b. Bring/throw/otherwise convey a list B article into/out of prison on 9 February 2019, contrary to the Prison Act S. 40c (1) (a). Miss Finch admitted the facts alleged, and admitted that they amounted to convictions of a relevant offence. 5 Preliminary applications The panel considered an application from Miss Finch that parts of the hearing [REDACTED] should be held in private. It decided that it was in the public interest for the hearing to be held in public but decided it would hear [REDACTED] limited parts in private. It was satisfied that this limited restriction on the general principle of open justice was proportionate and in the interests of justice. Summary of evidence Documents In advance of the hearing, the panel received a bundle of documents which included: Section 1: Chronology and list of key people – pages 4 to 6 Section 2: Notice of proceedings and response (placeholder) – pages 7 to 19 Section 3: Teaching Regulation Agency documents – pages 20 to 157 Section 4: Teacher documents - none In addition, the panel agreed to accept the following: • TRA skeleton submissions November 2024 The panel members confirmed that they had read all of the documents within the bundle, in advance of the hearing and the additional document that the panel decided to admit. Witnesses The panel heard oral evidence from Miss Finch. Decision and reasons The panel announced its decision and reasons as follows: In June 2015, Miss Finch pleaded guilty to a single offence of making off without payment. On 29 April 2015, she had filled her car with £20-worth of petrol and gone to pay but her payment card was declined. She was directed to a cash machine but did not return to pay with cash before driving away. She did not return to attempt to make payment later. Her sentence included a fine. In November 2020, she pleaded guilty to driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence and without insurance, having a driving licence in another person’s name to use 6 in the course of a fraud, and obstructing a police officer. On 3 November 2020, she drove a car without having a licence or insurance, and when stopped by police, she pretended to be someone else, using a bogus driving licence in an attempt to conceal her true identity. Her sentence included a fine and an order disqualifying her from driving for 12 months. Miss Finch told the panel that on this occasion, she was driving home from a family visit. In November 2021, she pleaded guilty to driving while disqualified and with no insurance. On 29 September 2021, she was caught driving before the expiry of her driving ban. Miss Finch told the panel that she was driving between sites at the school where she was working at the time. In January 2023, she was sentenced to 32 weeks’ imprisonment for two offences of smuggling items into a prison. On 9 February 2019, she visited a prison inmate, and was seen to remove a number of packages from her hair and pass them to the prisoner. These packages were intercepted and found to contain prohibited drugs, seven mobile phones and SIM cards. There were 32 tablets of Buprenorphine, an opioid Class C controlled drug, and 2 tablets of Oxymetholone and Mestanolone, a steroid Class C controlled drug. The prison value of these items was at least £1,850. Miss Finch had pleaded guilty to the offences, but said that she had carried them out because of threats and pressure from [REDACTED]. The trial judge held a hearing to consider her account. Having received evidence, including evidence from her mobile phone messages, he rejected her account, finding that the offence was financially motivated. He also rejected her suggestion that she believed she was bringing in tobacco, finding she must have strongly suspected she was bringing in prohibited drugs. The trial judge concluded she did not plan or initiate the offences. Findings of fact The findings of fact are as follows: The panel found the following particulars of the allegations against you proved, for these reasons: 1. On or around 9 June 2015 you were convicted at Birmingham and Solihull Magistrates Court of the following offence: a. Making off without paying on 29/04/2015, contrary to the Theft Act 1978 s.3 Miss Finch admitted this allegation, and it was proved by the memorandum of conviction. 2. On or around 3 November 2020 you were convicted at Worcestershire Magistrates Court of the following offences: 7 a. Using vehicle whilst uninsured, contrary to the Road Traffic Act 1988 s.143 (2) b. Driving otherwise than in accordance with a license, contrary to the Road Traffic Act 1988 s. 87 (1) c. Resist or obstruct a constable, contrary to the Police Act 1996 s. 89 (2) d. Possess/control a false/improperly obtained another person’s identity document, contrary to the Identity Documents Act 2010 s. 6 Miss Finch admitted this allegation, and it was proved by the memorandum of conviction. 3. On or around 16 November 2021 you were convicted at Kidderminster Magistrates Court of the following offences: a. Driving Whilst disqualified on 29 September 2021, contrary to the Road Traffic Act 1988 s. 103 (1) (b) b. Using vehicle whilst uninsured on 29 September 2021, contrary to the Road Traffic Act 1988 s.143 (2) Miss Finch admitted this allegation, and it was proved by the memorandum of conviction. 4. On or around 9 March 2021 you were convicted at Leicester Crown Court of the following offences: a. Bring/throw/otherwise convey a list A article into/out of prison on 9 February 2019, contrary to the Prison Act S. 40b (1) (a). b. Bring/throw/otherwise convey a list B article into/out of prison on 9 February 2019, contrary to the Prison Act S. 40c (1) (a). Miss Finch admitted this allegation, and it was proved by the certificate of conviction. Findings as to conviction of a relevant offence Having found a number of the allegations proved, the panel went on to consider whether the facts of those proved allegations amounted to convictions of a relevant offence. In doing so, the panel had regard to the document Teacher Misconduct: The Prohibition of Teachers, which is referred to as “the Advice”. The panel considered each conviction individually, and for the reasons below, it was satisfied that each amounted to a conviction for a relevant offence. 8 The panel was satisfied that the conduct of Miss Finch involved breaches of the Teachers’ Standards. The panel considered that by reference to Part 2, Miss Finch was in breach of the following standards:  Teachers uphold public trust in the profession and maintain high standards of ethics and behaviour, within and outside school, by o not undermining fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs The panel noted that although most of Miss Finch’s convictions occurred outside the education setting, she had told the panel that the November 2021 convictions for driving whilst d