A teacher who called a pupil with special educational needs and disability a “fat cunt” has been banned from the profession for life.

In a report - which, unusually, contained a warning as to the language employed - a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency banned Thomas Marshall from the profession and barred him from applying to rejoin it.

Mr Marshall was a post-16 teacher at Fosse Way School, Radstock, from 2014-18, which caters for pupils with SEND.

Allegations against him of unacceptable professional conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute included that he called pupils a “cunt and / or fat cunt”, “bugger” and “retard” and stamped on a pupil’s foot and pushed or pulled him inappropriately.

In May 2017, a colleague raised concerns about Mr Marshall’s language and inappropriate physical contact with pupils.

A witness said she spoke by phone to a police officer about her concerns but was unable to provide them with specific dates on which Mr Marshall used bad language.

The police determined no criminal charges should be brought.

A witness said the pupils were, in the main, non-verbal and unable to express themselves but were not mentally unaware. 

They were, however, capable of memorising and repeating offensive expressions.

In one incident during the school’s “snack time”, Mr Marshall told a pupil that he was “a fat cunt” when he asked for more food, and that after a school trip to buy food at Sainsbury’s Mr Marshall said, in the hearing of pupils, “Let’s get these cunts off the bus”.

Mr Marshall lent goggles to another pupil for a swimming lesson and when these were broken, he called the pupil “you bugger”.

In a separate incident, he put soap on a pupil’s genitals, a practice not approved of by the school nor part of his care plan, and told a witness this was because “this retard really stinks…His cock really fucking stinks and the smell is unbearable”.

Mr Marshall told the panel in a written statement that he swore but said he did so only when with trusted colleagues and friends and not when pupils were present.

He denied ever harming a student but said that he had been harmed himself in the past by students.

On the stamping incident, the panel heard that the pupil concerned could walk normally but would shuffle to get attention.

The witness said that on one or more occasions, she saw Mr Marshall stamping on the pupil’s foot to try to stop this.

Another witness said she saw Mr Marshall “hoiking” the pupil by lifting him in an unsuitable manner.

The report said his conduct “can only be viewed in the most serious manner”.

It went on: “He was physically and verbally abusive against pupils who had no voice and relied on their teacher to ensure their safety and be a voice for them. Mr Marshall consistently failed to do so, over a period of time, with a number of pupils.”

The panel recommended a life ban, which was agreed by Department for Education decision maker Alan Meyrick.