Back to the classroom

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), Jan 19, 2006

Byline: By Nicola Juncar

Sex offender William Gibson is to return to the classroom.

The director of the teaching agency which employs him said he had contacted the Department of Education, which was happy for him to keep working.

Gibson, 59, was suspended from the Portchester School in Bournemouth over the weekend after his 1980 conviction for indecently assaulting a 15-year-old girl in Sunderland came to light.

The department said in a statement it would be at the discretion of schools who they should employ, meaning he could be free to return to the classroom.

Gibson said: "I am delighted. This is fantastic news. I really hope this means I can teach again."

The news comes on the day Education Secretary Ruth Kelly is facing MPs to give a statement on the scandal of sex offenders cleared by ministers to work in schools.

Gibson had previously been removed from three schools in the North East and refused work by a Newcastle-based supply agency.

But his details were never entered on list 99, which bars teachers from working in schools.

The 59-year-old has protested he is not a paedophile and not a risk to children. He was also jailed for 30-months for forgery and theft in 2000.

James Newman, director of London-based Step Teaching, said: "We have spoken to the Department of Education.

"At the moment we are in a position where, as far as we are concerned, the Department of Education is not going back on their decision to allow Mr Gibson to work. It would appear they are happy for him to carry on working."

A friend of the shamed teacher has told how she used to pass notes from him to the schoolgirl he abused.

The 41-year-old from Washington, now a teacher herself, defended Gibson, claiming he had been unfairly represented as a paedophile.

She said: "The man I am hearing all about is not the man I knew.

"He was a kind and excellent teacher.

"They were very much in love.

"There was nothing sordid in it.

"He used to give me letters to pass on to her and I would do it, knowing how much they cared for each other."

The woman has since lost touch with her school friend.

She added: "They were so incredibly happy and they had a beautiful relationship.

"I'm not saying it is right for teachers to start affairs with their pupils but she was a very mature 15-year-old and he was a man in his 30s. They just fell in love."