Andrew Winkworth, who worked at Worlingham Primary School, near Beccles, was found to have stored several "graphic" videos on his school account.

He was only caught when another teacher inadvertently stumbled upon them while searching the internal server for a school performance video made the previous week.

Winkworth had worked as a PE teacher (Image: NQ Staff)

Winkworth had been absent that day but had told the office that the video was available on the school's system. His account was then accessed and the videos were discovered in his downloads folder.

The recordings featured lone women walking through the streets of Norwich, some of which focused on their bottoms while “wearing tight clothing”.

The person who discovered the videos in March 2022 reported them and contacted the school's headteacher.

Winkworth, who worked at the school for 10 years, was suspended and subsequently struck off in September the same year.

Now, following a misconduct panel hearing led by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), he has been prohibited from teaching indefinitely.

HOW THE DISCOVERY UNFOLDED

During an inspection of Winkworth's school-issued iPads, it was found that the former PE teacher had linked his personal Google account to the devices.

That Google account featured the same "inappropriate" videos, which are believed to have been filmed between August 2020 and January 2022 in Norwich according to the attached metadata.

A witness who was searching the iPads noted the videos appeared but then disappeared, indicating that Winkworth, a class teacher for Years 5 and 6, had deleted them.

The same witness stated that they did not find anything inappropriate stored on the iPads themselves, but believed Winkworth used them to access the "graphic" content from his personal Google Drive.

Further witnesses were confident that the former teacher had filmed the videos as they showed shoes he was known to wear and included "the legs of an adult athletic male".

A SAFEGUARDING INVESTIGATION

Suffolk Police’s safeguarding team conducted an investigation on March 24, 2022, but no evidence of criminality was found.

Winkworth was immediately suspended from the school pending investigation, and was later dismissed on July 12 before being sacked in September.

Winkworth was sacked from Worlingham Primary School in 2022 (Image: Nick Butcher)

The TRA's report said: "The panel noted that some of the videos showed women who appeared to be accompanied by children, including footage of a women walking with a young child, and of a young girl walking alongside an adult.

"The panel also noted that in some videos, the individuals filmed appeared to be young females."

The misconduct panel concluded that filming women in a sexually motivated manner in public places, including in circumstances where children were present, was inappropriate and demonstrated a lack of regard for the standards expected of a teacher.

In a signed statement the former teacher admitted that he shot the videos, which featured women in tight clothing, for sexual gratification.

However, in a different statement Winkworth also stated he "loved being a teacher" - a role he had carried out for 19 years - and believed that "he could continue to be a successful and well-regarded member of the profession" and described the long hours he worked.

The panel barred Winkworth from teaching indefinitely (Image: NQ Staff)

There was no independent evidence given to the panel, such as testimonials from pupils, parents or schools, to support a finding of exceptional professional standing.

'BEHAVIOUR DEMONSTRATED POOR JUDGEMENT'

The panel found that the former teacher's conduct fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession, and the findings of misconduct are "particularly serious" as they include a finding of sexually motivated conduct.

The decision, of behalf of the secretary of state, gave Winkworth a prohibition order.

This means that he is barred from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach at any school, sixth from college, relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England.

He is only able to apply for the prohibition order to be revoked after April 2030.

If he does apply, a panel will meet again to consider if the order will be set aside and without a successful application Winkworth will be prohibited from teaching indefinitely.

© Eastern Daily Press