“Extremely drunk” Yorkshire teacher quit after “touching woman's breasts and kissing her” in car

Andrew Parkinson was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.

A teacher has been banned for life after a misconduct panel heard claims that he touched a woman's breasts.

Andrew Parkinson, 41, was described as an excellent teacher and respected subject leader at a West Yorkshire Grammar School where he worked as director of learning for maths and technology.

A teaching conduct panel was told that in 2018 Mr Parkinson had touched a woman's breasts, another part of her body, and kissed the side of her face without her consent. Mr Parkinson was described as 'extremely drunk' at the time. He claimed that he had told the woman she had a "nice set of boobs".

Mr Parkinson denied anything had happened. He did not attend the hearing and was not represented. The hearing was told that police had decided to take no further action against him.

A police officer confirmed to the panel that because the Crown Prosecution Service had decided not to go ahead, this did not mean that the alleged incident had not occurred. The misconduct panel found the allegations proved that Mr Parkinson was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.

In a statement, Mr Parkinson sent that, since resigning from his role at the school in January 2019, he has "suffered severe emotional consequences."

On behalf of the Secretary of State, Alan Meyrick prohibited Mr Parkinson from teaching indefinitely.

He said: "The findings of misconduct are severe as they include a finding of sexual misconduct on the part of a teacher."