Teacher sacked after child beaten in class by gang while he stood by and did nothing

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A teacher was sacked after he stood by and did nothing while a child was attacked in his classroom. Daniel Murphy, a science teacher at a secondary school, accepted that he 'failed to safeguard' a pupil after they were beaten up in his classroom.

During the second lesson of the day at Kirkby High School in Livepool on November 21, 2019, Mr Murphy was teaching a science class when a child (Pupil A) was battered to the floor by a fellow student and was then kicked by a number of other children.

Liverpool Echo reports that a professional conduct panel heard how Mr Murphy, who was not in possession of a "Qualified Teacher Status", did not intervene in the attack for around two minutes and it was staff members passing the room who stepped in to help.

As a result of the ordeal, Mr Murphy was suspended pending a further investigation at the school and was dismissed following a disciplinary hearing.The panel accepted Mr Murphy's actions were not deliberate and that he "froze" because he was not sure what to do in this situation.The report said: "He was an inexperienced teacher who did not hold 'Qualified Teacher Status' and had not received training from the School (or in any previous courses) on managing the behaviour of pupils."The panel was made aware of, and accepted, that a serious incident involving another pupil making threats to him with a broken glass and fire extinguisher in the month or so prior to the incident with Pupil A was likely to have a made an impact on his decision making ability."Mr Murphy attended the hearing and stressed how he was "deeply ashamed" of how he handled the situation.He said he was "out of his depth" and had severely let down Pupil A.The panel found Mr Murphy failed to take appropriate