A PE teacher has been banned from the classroom despite an independent panel clearing him of racism and recommending he should be allowed to continue teaching.
Sam Everett, 22, who previously worked at Haughton Academy in Darlington, was prohibited from teaching indefinitely after a decision by the Department for Education overruled findings by a Teaching Regulation Agency panel.
The panel had examined a series of posts made by Everett on social media in which he expressed views on migration, politics and social issues. While it found some of the posts to be offensive and indicative of a lack of tolerance, it concluded they did not amount to racism or sexism.
Among the posts reviewed were comments stating that migrants who do not respect British laws should “leave”, support for deploying the Navy to stop small boat crossings, and criticism of Islamic values being prioritised over UK laws. Other posts addressed political ideologies and social debates, including gender identity and protests.
One of the posts highlighted during the hearing was Everett’s reply of “Deploy the navy” to a Britain First post about migrants arriving by boat. The panel said this was offensive because it implied support for using military force against unarmed people in small boats. Everett said he had not realised Britain First was a far-right organisation at the time he replied.
The panel also examined his response to a post saying “The law of Allah is superior to your laws”, to which he wrote that those expressing such views could live elsewhere and should leave Britain. Another post referred to people coming from what he described as intolerable and barbaric places and thinking they had more rights than English people.
Everett admitted the account was his but denied that his views were discriminatory. The panel heard that although he was identifiable as a teacher, he had not named his school, but sufficient information was available for complaints to be made.
The panel ultimately recommended that Everett should not be banned from the profession, stating that publication of its findings would be a sufficient sanction. It noted that he had shown remorse, deleted the posts, and closed his accounts, and that there was no significant risk of repetition.
It also heard evidence from colleagues and a subsequent employer, who described his conduct in the classroom as professional and said he had worked effectively with pupils from diverse backgrounds.
However, the Department for Education overruled the recommendation, stating that the panel had not given sufficient weight to the seriousness of the conduct and that a ban was necessary to maintain public confidence in the teaching profession.
Everett had already been dismissed from his position at Haughton Academy in June 2024 following the investigation.
Under the terms of the ruling, he is banned from teaching indefinitely and must wait at least two years before applying for reinstatement, with no guarantee that his application would be approved.