Mr Thomas Fulham

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 Thomas Fulham

Teacher reference number: 1960087

Teacher's date of birth: 20 April 1991

Location teacher worked: Romford, London

Date of professional conduct panel: 20 to 21 November 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 Mr Thomas Fulham formerly employed in Romford, London.

Teacher misconduct

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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 Thomas Fulham: Professional conduct panel outcome Panel decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education November 2024 2 Contents Introduction 3 Allegations 4 Preliminary applications 5 Summary of evidence 10 Documents 10 Witnesses 10 Decision and reasons 13 Findings of fact 13 Panel’s recommendation to the Secretary of State 25 Decision and reasons on behalf of the Secretary of State 27 3 Professional conduct panel decision and recommendations, and decision on behalf of the Secretary of State Teacher: Mr Thomas Fulham Teacher ref number: 1960087 Teacher date of birth: 20 April 1991 TRA reference: 2 2198 Date of determination: 21 November 2024 F ormer employer: Chadwell Heath Academy Introduction A professional conduct panel (“the panel”) of the Teaching Regulation Agency (“the TRA”) convened on 20 to 21 November 2024 virtually to consider the case of Mr Thomas Fulham. The panel members were Mrs Shabana Robertson (lay panellist – in the Chair), Mr Robert Dowey (teacher panellist) and Mrs Natalie Jones (teacher panellist). The legal adviser to the panel was Miss Tania Dosoruth of Blake Morgan LLP solicitors. The presenting officer for the TRA was Ms Matilda Hesleton of Browne Jacobson LLP solicitors. Mr Fulham was not present and not represented at the hearing. The hearing took place in public save for certain parts of the hearing during which matters concerning the health of Mr Fulham and Pupil A which were heard in private. The hearing was recorded. 4 Allegations The panel considered the allegations set out in the notice of hearing dated 21 August 2024. It was alleged that Mr Fulham was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct and/or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute, in that, whilst employed as a Teacher of Science at Chadwell Heath Academy between 1 September 2021 and 13 October 2023: 1. He failed to maintain appropriate professional boundaries by a. having contact with Pupil A i. Outside of school hours ii. Via his personal email address(es) b. writing to Pupil A via email around January 2023 – February 2023 or using words to the effect of; i. “I love you”; ii. “I am here for you no matter what, no matter what time”; iii. “I am never letting you go and….will not let you push me away either”; iv. “Do you still worry that I am going to leave you? Answer honestly. Also, you asked a while back why I care and part of it is because you make me a better person”; v. “I thought it was because you almost got caught. But I am really glad you came back. I don’t…know how long I could have gone without”; vi. “Ignore the adults it’s easy for them to forget what it is like as a kid”; vii. “I forgot to ask earlier if you want to come in early and stay after school for a while tomorrow”; viii. “If you ever want to come in early or stay late you’re more than welcome…done need to ask”. 2. His behaviour as may be found proved at 1 above was conduct of a sexual nature and/or sexually motivated.5 3. He attempted to conceal his communications with Pupil A by; a. Using one or more personal email addresses; b. writing to Pupil A to “delete all emails as soon as you send/receive them and delete them from your trash” or using words to that effect on or around 3 February 2023 4. He provided false and/or misleading information to the Chadwell Heath Academy in that he sent the School an edited version of your email(s) to Pupil A than was originally sent by him by removing parts of the email where he wrote to Pupil A that he did ‘love her’ or parts to that effect. 5. His conduct as may be found proved at 3 and/or 4 above lacked integrity and/or was dishonest. 6. He failed to take appropriate action and/or ensure appropriate action was taken to safeguard Pupil A until 11 February 2023 despite being sent emails from Pupil A to the effect of: a. “I feel like dying” on or around 4 February 2023 b. “I’m struggling…I’m losing myself…I can’t control whats going on anymore. What if I don’t wake up tomorrow morning?” on or around 8 February 2023; c. “I feel like dying. I really want to give up” on or around 9 February 2023; d. “I’m scared I am going to die” on or around 9 February 2023. An agreed statement of facts signed by Mr Fulham on 15 November 2024 and on behalf of the TRA on 19 November 2024 was provided to the panel. This statement confirmed that Mr Fulham admitted all of the allegations save for allegation 2. Preliminary applications Application to admit additional documents An application was made on behalf of the TRA to admit additional documents for consideration at the hearing. The additional documents consisted of a supplementary bundle of documents consisting of the following documents: • Letter to Mr Fulham enclosing a proceeding in absence application • Proceedings in absence application on behalf of the TRA • Statement of Agreed Facts6 • Correspondence between Browne Jacobson LLP and Mr Fulham regarding proceeding in absence and an application by Mr Fulham for the hearing to be heard in private. • Email from the Chadwell Heath Academy responding to Mr Fulham’s application for the hearing to be heard in private. It was submitted on behalf of the TRA that the documents were clearly relevant to the consideration of the case as a whole and that it was fair to admit this evidence as it contained important correspondence with Mr Fulham including a signed Statement of Agreed Facts and an application from Mr Fulham for the hearing to be heard in private. The panel accepted the advice of the legal adviser. The panel considered that the documents contained in the supplementary bundle were clearly relevant to the case. The panel was also of the view that as the supplementary bundle consisted predominantly of correspondence between the presenting officer and Mr Fulham it would not cause any prejudice to admit the supplementary bundle as evidence. Application to proceed in absence An application was made to proceed in the absence of Mr Fulham on behalf of the TRA in line with paragraph 5.47 of the Disciplinary Procedures. The TRA outlined that notice of today’s hearing had been served on Mr Fulham on 21 August 2024 by post which complied with the requirements to serve the notice of hearing 10 weeks prior to the hearing in line with paragraph 5.23 of the Disciplinary Procedures. It was also submitted on behalf of the TRA that Mr Fulham had responded to the notice of hearing on 17 September 2024 confirming that he did not wish to attend the hearing which demonstrated that he had been properly served with notice of the hearing. In light of the above, the TRA applied for the hearing to proceed in the absence of Mr Fulham. In its application, the TRA relied on the email from Mr Fulham dated 17 November 2024 in which Mr Fulham confirmed that he had waived his right to attend the hearing and that he was content for the panel to decide the case in his absence. Mr Fulham also confirmed that he was aware that any findings could lead to the imposition of a prohibition order. The TRA submitted that Mr Fulham had voluntarily absented himself form the proceedings and that there was no suggestion that he was seeking an adjournment of the hearing or that postponing the hearing would secure his attendance. The TRA submitted that there was a public interest in the matter being heard expeditiously and 7 also outlined that a witness for the TRA, Witness A was ready to give evidence at the hearing and that any further delays could affect Witness A’s memory of events which had occurred. The TRA also indicated that if the hearing was postponed that this would result in a delay of at least 10 weeks in order to allow for notice to be given. The Panel accepted the advice of the legal adviser. The panel agreed that notice had been properly served in accordance with the Disciplinary Rules and therefore went on to consider whether to proceed in the absence of Mr Fulham. The Panel was mindful that it should exercise its discretion to proceed in the absence of Mr Fulham cautiously. However, the panel noted that Mr Fulham had consistently indicated that he would not attend a hearing, first in his response to the notice of hearing on 17 September 2024 and more recently in email correspondence on 17 November 2024. [REDACTED]. However, the panel was not provided with any medical evidence regarding Mr Fulham’s health and also considered that Mr Fulham had not requested an adjournment due to his health. The panel were therefore of the view that Mr Fulham had voluntarily absented himself and that adjourning the hearing was unlikely to result in his attendance. Whilst Mr Fulham had indicated that [REDACTED], he had not suggested that his condition would alter in the foreseeable future or that he would attend in the future if the hearing was postponed. The panel were also of the view that there was a public interest in determining the case in good time particularly where there was a witness who was ready to give evidence. In all the circumstances the panel considered that it was both fair and in the public interest to proceed with the hearing in the absence of Mr Fulham. Application for the hearing to be held in private Although Mr Fulham was not present at the hearing, in both his response form date 17 September 2024 and through recent email correspondence with the TRA, Mr Fulham had indicated that he wished to apply for the hearing to be held entirely in private. In an email dated 18 November 2024, Mr Fulham put forward three reasons for the application which were: • That Pupil A could become identifiable as it was known that Mr Fulham had been helping her • Mr Fulham had been struggling with “[REDACTED]” which was why he was not in attendance at the hearing • The public had no right to know the record of his arrest 8 In response to the application the TRA submitted that i