A FORMER headteacher of an Andover school who bought a staff member gifts including flowers and a handbag, and asked another to wear fur coats for him while taking photos of her has avoided a ban.

Tom Donohoe, who was the headteacher of Anton Junior School, also asked another staff member about their sex life and commented on employees' appearances.

Those are the findings of a professional conduct panel of the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), which investigated a series of allegations against Mr Donohoe, and has recently published its decisions on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education.

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Mr Donohoe was headteacher of the school from April 2003 until June 2018 but resigned from his position during an investigation by Hampshire County Council following complaints by former staff members.

The council conducted an initial investigation and later made a referral to the TRA.

Mr Donohoe admitted asking one or more staff members to wear items of clothing, including fur coats, and taking photographs of them wearing them.

He also admitted to buying gifts for team members but denied he asked for them to be kept a secret, and accepted there were occasions when he gave hugs to staff members but said in the circumstances they were not inappropriate.

Between March 13 and 22, he appeared before a Teaching Regulatory Agency panel and was found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct.

Although it was proven that he crossed the “boundary between professional and private relationship”, the panel recommended to the secretary of the state that no prohibition order should be imposed in this case as his conduct was “at the less serious end of the spectrum”.

The panel heard from five witnesses, whose identities have remained anonymous.

One allegation, that the panel found to be proven, was that he made inappropriate comments to staff members, including asking Witness C about her sex life and/or her personal relationships on one or more occasions.

The report said: “On one occasion at the school on a Sunday afternoon, Mr Donohoe asked her if she had had sex that morning. She refused to tell him, to which he responded that she must have done otherwise she would have said no. Witness C stated that he then went on to tell her that she disgusted him and asked her to leave.”

Another allegation found to be proven was that Mr Donohoe commented upon staff members’ physical appearances.

“Witness B agreed in her evidence there was an occasion when she was working in a warm classroom and she said to Mr Donohoe that it was hot. His response to this comment was, ‘well you are hot’,” the report said.

“Witness B further described that when working in Mr Donohoe's office, he would often make comments about other females such as ‘oh she's hot’ and ‘she's fit’ or make reference to their figures.”

Referring to the gifts given, the panel said: “This culture of gifting went far beyond simple rewards for a job well done. Some of these gifts could be described as ‘over the top’. It blurred the boundaries between professional and private relationships and its selective nature appears to have contributed to the divide in those who thought they had the support of Mr Donohoe and those who didn't.”

The panel also found that “Mr Donohoe would swear at staff in an aggressive or intimidating manner” and that on more than one occasion he touched Witness A’s knee and/or thigh which made her feel uncomfortable.

However, it did not find enough evidence to prove a number of other allegations, including Mr Donohoe commenting on pupils’ appearance, intentionally standing on a pupil’s hand during an assembly and failing to comply with the statutory requirements for KS2 National Curriculum assessments.

The panel also heard from character witnesses. All the witnesses spoke about Mr Donohoe’s commitment to hard work and described him as an 'inspirational teacher, with 'a commitment to improving the opportunities for his pupils'.

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The panel considered the incidents were “best characterised as temporary lapses in judgment, or otherwise excusable”.

The panel said in its recommendation: “Given that the nature and severity of the behaviour were at the less serious end of the possible spectrum and, having considered the mitigating factors that were present, the panel determined that a recommendation for a prohibition order would not be appropriate in this case.

“The panel considered that the publication of the adverse findings it had made was sufficient to send an appropriate message to the teacher as to the standards of behaviour that are not acceptable, and the publication would meet the public interest requirement of declaring proper standards of the profession.”

Mr Donohoe joined the Anton Junior School as a headteacher in 2003, at a time when the school was assessed as ‘in need of improvement’ by the local authority. In 2012, the school was assessed as ‘outstanding’.