Teacher struck off for ‘serious misconduct’ after telling Leeds pupils that ‘Ukrainians are Nazis’

A teacher has been struck off after telling Leeds pupils that ‘Ukrainians are Nazis’ and ‘gay and transgender pupils are mentally ill’ during a history class.

William Garwood was working as a supply teacher at St Mary’s Menston Catholic Voluntary Academy when he made the derogatory comments in front of Year 11 pupils.

A professional conduct panel heard that the “serious misconduct” happened during a history class on Nazi Germany on October 5, 2023.

Mr Garwood was employed by a supply agency, and had worked his first shift for the Menston secondary school on September 29 that year.

A professional conduct panel found that during the class, a pupil asked Mr Garwood whether there “were any just wars”, to which he replied “yes”.

The panel found that he told pupils he was happy that Putin was killing “satanic Nazis” in Ukraine and then stated that the world was run by billionaires, who created what were described as “evil Ukrainians”.

During the same lesson, Mr Garwood also made comments to the effect of “gay and transgender people are mentally ill”, the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) found.

His inappropriate comments were reported to the school and the supply agency, Randstad Recruitment Agency, and the matter was referred to the TRA on April 16.

The misconduct panel report, published yesterday (July 6), concluded that Mr Garwood’s conduct was inappropriate and discriminatory, and that he was guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.

The report said: “The panel considered the comments made by Mr Garwood to be clearly inappropriate and wholly unrelated to the subject matter of the lesson on the history of Nazi Germany.

“The panel noted that the remarks involved a significant and highly subjective value judgement, which had no relevance to the curriculum content being delivered.

“Even if there had been some contextual link, the terminology used would not have been acceptable.”

The report said that, in his representation during the panel, Mr Garwood stated that his Islamic beliefs “had been used to assert that he was a psychological threat to children’s wellbeing”.

But the panel found Mr Garwood’s comments “did not demonstrate appropriate respect for, or tolerance of, individuals holding different beliefs”, and that he had not shown “meaningful insight or remorse”.

The report added: “By presenting personal views in a way that could have been perceived as propagandistic and dismissive of differing perspectives, Mr Garwood failed to maintain an inclusive or respectful learning environment.”

Mr Garwood has been banned from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.

He cannot apply for the ban to be lifted for six years.

In his concluding remarks, the panel’s decision maker, Marc Carvey, said: “The panel finds that the conduct of Mr Garwood fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession.

“The findings of misconduct are particularly serious as they include a teacher expressing views and opinions that were extreme, discriminatory and intolerant.”