Mr Daniel Jackson

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: Mr Daniel Jackson

Teacher reference number: 0859817

Teacher's date of birth: 19 September 1979

Location teacher worked: Southampton, south east England

Date of professional conduct panel: 9 January 2023

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 Mr Daniel Jackson, formerly employed in Southampton, north east England.

Teacher misconduct

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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.

Mr Daniel Jackson: Professional conduct panel meeting outcome Panel decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education January 2023 2 Contents Introduction 3 Allegations 4 Preliminary applications 4 Summary of evidence 4 Documents 4 Statement of agreed facts 5 Decision and reasons 5 Findings of fact 6 Panel’s recommendation to the Secretary of State 8 Decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State 11 3 Professional conduct panel decision and recommendations, and decision on behalf of the Secretary of State Teacher: Mr Daniel Jackson Teacher ref number: 0859817 Teacher date of birth: 19 September 1979 TRA reference: 18860 Date of determination: 9 January 2023 Former employer: St Mary's Independent School, Southampton Introduction A professional conduct panel (“the panel”) of the Teaching Regulation Agency (“the TRA”) convened on 9 January 2023, by virtual means, to consider the case of Mr Daniel Jackson. The panel members were Mr Clive Sentance (teacher panellist – in the chair), Mr Clive Ruddle (lay panellist) and Mrs Patricia Hunt (former teacher panellist). The legal adviser to the panel was Mr Graham Miles of Blake Morgan LLP solicitors. In advance of the meeting, after taking into consideration the public interest and the interests of justice, the TRA agreed to a request from Mr Daniel Jackson that the allegations be considered without a hearing. Mr Daniel Jackson provided a signed statement of agreed facts and admitted unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. The panel considered the case at a meeting without the attendance of the presenting officer, Mr Daniel Jackson or his representative. The meeting took place in private. 4 Allegations The panel considered the allegations set out in the notice of meeting dated 22 December 2022. It was alleged that Mr David Jackson was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute in that, while employed as a teacher at St Mary's Independent School: 1. Between around 6 - 8 November 2019, he engaged in conversations of an inappropriate and/or sexual nature via the online chat room ‘Just-Teens’ using a school laptop. 2. His conduct at 1 above was sexually motivated. Mr Jackson admitted the alleged facts and also admitted that his conduct amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. Mr Jackson signed a statement of agreed facts to that effect. Preliminary applications There were no preliminary applications. Summary of evidence Documents In advance of the meeting, the panel received a bundle of documents which included: Section 1: Chronology, anonymised pupil list and list of key people – pages 4 to 7 Section 2: Notice of Referral, response and Notice of Meeting – pages 8 to 22 Section 3: Statement of Agreed Facts and Presenting Officer Representations – pages 23 to 26 Section 4: Teaching Regulation Agency documents – pages 27 to 210 Section 5: Teacher documents – pages 211 to 212 The panel members confirmed that they had read all of the documents within the bundle, in advance of the meeting. 5 Statement of agreed facts The panel considered a statement of agreed facts which was signed by Mr Daniel Jackson on 10 August 2022. Decision and reasons The panel carefully considered the case and reached a decision. In advance of the meeting, the TRA agreed to a request from Mr Daniel Jackson for the allegations to be considered without a hearing. The panel had the ability to direct that the case be considered at a hearing if required in the interests of justice or in the public interest. The panel did not determine that such a direction was necessary or appropriate in this case. Mr Jackson was employed at St Mary's Independent School ("the School") from 1 September 2010 until 30 December 2019 as a Chemistry Teacher. On 7 November 2019 the School's e-safe monitoring system detected that Mr Jackson's work laptop had accessed a site called 'Just-Teens' and highlighted sexual communication which appeared to be with a child. The School obtained screenshots from their e-safe monitoring system showing the suspected chat room conversations. These were provided to the police. The police seized electronic devices in Mr Jackson's possession, including his school laptop, mobile phone and several electronic storage devices. Mr Jackson was interviewed by the police on 8 November 2019 but provided no comment. He was released without charge or bail pending further investigation . On 26 November 2019, Mr Jackson sent a letter to the School in which he resigned from his post and said that he believed that it was the right time to seek a different career. Mr Jackson's electronic devices were forensically examined by the police, but no further evidence was found which gave rise to an offence. The police were unable to obtain any further information from the 'Just-Teens' chatroom or host site and therefore were unable to confirm the ages of the individuals that Mr Jackson had corresponded with. The police investigation concluded in around August/September 2020 with no further action being taken. Whilst the police were unable to support a prosecution, they considered there were sufficient links to indicate that Mr Jackson used a work laptop to hold inappropriate conversations with suspected teenage girls (both under and over 18 years old). The Police considered that Mr Jackson posed a potential risk to children and therefore he was issued with a C5 Notice (a notice indicating police concerns about a person's sexual behaviour) on 13 October 2020. 6 On 20 May 2020 Mr Jackson was included on the DBS Children's Barred List. Findings of fact The findings of fact are as follows: It was alleged that you were guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute in that, while employed as a teacher at St Mary's Independent School: 1. Between around 6 – 8 November 2019, you engaged in conversations of an inappropriate and/or sexual nature via the online chat room ‘Just -Teens’ using a school laptop. Mr Jackson admitted that between around 6 to 8 November 2019, he engaged in conversation of an inappropriate and/or sexual nature via the online chat room 'Just-Teens' using a school laptop. Mr Jackson signed a statement of agreed facts in which he acknowledged that the screenshots obtained by the School's e-safe monitoring software confirmed that it was his user name ([REDACTED]) and computer ([REDACTED]) which accessed the chatroom site called 'Just-Teens' between around 6 to 8 November 2019. The screenshots also showed that the username [REDACTED] was used to access the chatroom and engage in conversations. The police were able to link the username [REDACTED] to Mr Jackson following cross-reference to his other electronic devices which were forensically examined. In the statement of agreed facts, Mr Jackson also accepted that the screenshots obtained included conversations discussing the other chatroom user as having 'detention' and reference a person aged 18 as 'older', suggesting that the individual was of school age or at least purporting to be of school age. The panel found allegation 1 proved. 2. Your conduct at 1 above was sexually motivated. Mr Jackson admitted that the screenshots of the chatroom conversations that occurred between around 6 to 8 November 2019 contained a number of sexually explicit conversations with other chatroom users, including reference to sexual interactions with children. The panel reviewed copies of the screenshots in the bundle of evidence and reached the same conclusion. Mr Jackson also admitted that his conduct in allegation 1 above was sexually motivated; meaning that his conduct was in pursuit of sexual gratification or in pursuit of a future 7 sexual relationship. This admission reflected the legal test for sexual motivation established in Basson v General Medical Council [2018] EWHC 505 (Admin). The panel found allegation 2 proved. Findings as to unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute Having found the allegations proved, the panel went on to consider whether the facts of those proven allegations amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. Mr Jackson admitted that his conduct in allegations 1 and 2 amounted to unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute. The panel took these admissions into account, but made its own determination. 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 was satisfied that the conduct of Mr Daniel Jackson in relation to the facts found proved, involved breaches of the Teachers’ Standards. The panel considered that, by reference to Part 2, Mr Jackson 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 treating pupils with dignity, building relationships rooted in mutual respect, and at all times observing proper boundaries appropriate to a teacher’s professional position o having regard for the need to safeguard pupils’ well-being, in accordance with statutory provisions o showing tolerance of and respect for the rights of others o ensuring that personal beliefs are not expressed in ways which exploit pupils’ vulnerability or might lead them to break the law  Teachers must have proper and professional regard for the ethos, policies and practices of the school in which they teach, and maintain high standards in their own attendance