Former primary school headteacher Ian McDonald, 46, was caught with sick photos of children – which led to him being banned from teaching indefinitely
A pervert headteacher has been banned from the job indefinitely after police found vile images of children and animals on his phone.
Ian McDonald, 46, left Bishop Martin Primary School in Skelmersdale, West Lancashire in July 2023. The headteacher had been working there since September 2022 – but was arrested the following year in April by Lancashire Police’s online abuse team after making indecent images of children and being in possession of another extreme pornographic image.
McDonald was suspended by the school on April 25 before resigning on July 25. He appeared in Preston Crown Court on June 20, 2024, and pleaded guilty to three charges of making an indecent photograph of a child and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image – which involves animals. The offences happened between January 2022 and April 2023.
On July 24, 2024, McDonald, of Alexandria Drive, St Annes, was sentenced to a three-year community order with 30 days rehabilitation to participate in a suitable accredited programme. He was also handed a sexual harm prevention order for five years.
A former colleague of McDonald’s, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Liverpool Echo that he left the school in 2023 and did not return.
The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) report, written following a virtual hearing, said: “There was no evidence that Mr McDonald’s actions were not deliberate. On the contrary, the evidence was that Mr McDonald had actively clicked on links to images and had retained some of them.
“There was no evidence that Mr McDonald was acting under extreme duress.” It added that McDonald “apologised for his actions and stated he had accepted the consequences”, but this was not enough to mitigate the severity of his crimes.
Decision maker Stuart Blomfield said: “In my view, it is necessary to impose a prohibition order in order to maintain public confidence in the profession. For these reasons, I have concluded that a prohibition order is proportionate and in the public interest in order to achieve the intended aims of a prohibition order. I have gone on to consider the matter of a review period. In this case, the panel has recommended that no provision should be made for a review period.
“I have considered the panel’s comments ‘The panel found that the seriousness of the offending behaviour that led to the convictions were relevant to Mr McDonald’s ongoing suitability to teach’, and that ‘The panel was not provided with any evidence to be able to assess the risk of repetition in respect of Mr McDonald’s conduct’.”
He added: “These elements are the seriousness of the conduct which related to primary age school children, the lack of full insight and the panel’s assessment that it had no evidence upon which to determine the risk of repetition. I consider therefore that allowing for no review period is necessary to maintain public confidence and is proportionate and in the public interest.”
Mr Blomfield concluded in his report: “This means that Mr Ian McDonald is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or 13 children’s home in England.
“Furthermore, in view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved against him, I have decided that Mr McDonald shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach.”
