PE teacher banned after ringing colleague 70 times on Christmas Day

A PE teacher who pleaded guilty to harassment after calling a colleague 70 times, as well as being in possession of cocaine, has been banned from the classroom.

Ben Russell worked as a PE teacher at the Ellis Guilford School in Nottingham from September 2014 until his suspension in January 2022.

He was handed a prohibition order by the Teaching Regulation Authority on 7 May after three allegations relating to his behaviour were considered proven by a panel.

Mr Russell’s conduct towards a colleague, referred to as Person A, was raised to the school’s senior leadership team in 2021.

He also raised his concerns with the school about Person A’s conduct towards him outside of the school environment.

The PE teacher was found by the panel to have sworn at Person A during a lunch break at the school in November 2021.

The panel also found that Mr Russell sent Facebook messages to another colleague, referred to as Person B, about Person A, saying they were “evil” and using swear words including “f***ing” and “c**t”.

Person B reported the messages to the school. The panel found the messages to be inappropriate but did not deem them to be aggressive.

Mr Russell’s behaviour towards Person A also saw him plead guilty to harassment at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court in June 2022.

While Person A was out having dinner in December 2021, Mr Russell walked past and started shouting remarks at them.

Then, on Christmas Day 2021, Mr Russell called Person A more than 70 times.

On Boxing Day, he was arrested for an alleged offence of harassment and a small bag of cocaine was found in his possession. He also pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine at the magistrates’ court.

Mr Russell was fined for the offences and handed a 12-month restraining order preventing him from contacting Person A or visiting a specified address.

The panel found the allegations facing the teacher to be true, but did not consider that the messages sent to Person B amounted to unacceptable professional conduct.

However, it did find the convictions impacted Mr Russell’s fitness to teach.

He has been banned from teaching indefinitely. He may apply for the order to be set aside but not until May 2028.