High speed crash head wins appeal

Paul Davies now has a seven-month suspension from teaching

A former head teacher who was banned from teaching after a high-speed crash has won his appeal at the High Court.

Paul Davies, 52, who worked at Cwmdare primary in the Cynon Valley, was jailed for dangerous driving last year for a crash which left a man in a wheelchair.

He was later banned from teaching for at least two years by the General Teaching Council for Wales and sacked.

Mr Justice Blair overturned the prohibition order and replaced it with a seven-month suspension from teaching.

The judge at the High Court in London said, though his behaviour was serious, it was not incompatible with him continuing to be a registered teacher.

The seven-month suspension was a "serious penalty for a teacher, particularly a head teacher", Mr Justice Blair added.

Last year, Mr Davies was jailed for 15 months and banned from driving for two years for the May 2006 head-on crash on the A465 heads of the valleys road, which forced motorist Kelvin Palmer to spend 10 months in hospital.

Kelvin Palmer said the decision was "absurd"

Mr Davies's driving in wet and windy conditions was described as "lunatic" and as having the "mentality of a boy racer," by the judge during sentencing at Newport Crown Court.

Mr Palmer, who is now in a wheelchair and forced to live in a respite care centre 30 miles from his home, reacted angrily to the High Court decision.

"It's patently absurd isn't it?" he said.

"This is another example of the justice system not working.

"I haven't returned home, I can't return home.

"He has been allowed back into teaching so he will go back and carry on."

Mr Davies was initially reinstated to his job as head teacher of Cwmdare in January, following his early release from jail last September.

'Absolutely delighted'

But the General Teaching Council for Wales (GTCW) ruled a month later that he had brought the profession into disrepute and struck him off the teaching register for at least two years.

Cwmdare school governing body disciplinary panel then made the decision to dismiss him in March.

At the time, it said the decision remained subject to appeal proceedings.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Blair said the GTCW's decision was flawed by a failure to take into account the school governing body's willingness to take Mr Davies back.

Mr Davies issued a statement through the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and said he was "absolutely delighted" his appeal had been successful.

"This does not mean that I have forgotten the serious injury caused to Mr Palmer by the accident in May of 2006," he added.

A spokesperson for the NAHT said the decision was "significant both for Mr Davies and all other registered teachers in Wales".

Whether or not Mr Davies now gets his job back as the primary school's headteacher will depend on the governors.

Gary Brace, chief executive of the GTCW said: "The right to appeal to the High Court is enshrined in the Teaching and Higher Education Act 1998 and underpins the legal status of the council's professional standards work. We naturally accept the decision of the High Court."

Mike Keating, director of education and lifelong learning at Rhondda Cynon Taf Council said they had noted the decision of the court.

"The appropriate Rhondda Cynon Taf Council departments will now work with the governing body at Cwmdare to determine what steps should now follow today's court decision."