Lianne Barclay, who worked at Bridgewater High School in Warrington, was banned from the profession after being found to have sent sexually motivated messages to a child
A former teacher who sent inappropriate messages to a child, including “I was horny,” and “you gay yet?” has been struck off. Lianne Barclay, previously employed at Bridgewater High School in Warrington, faced scrutiny over her conduct towards a minor.
Last month, a Teacher Regulation Agency Panel heard that Miss Barclay, who had been a food technology teacher at the school since 2017 and resigned amidst an investigation in 2019, had been discovered sending messages, voice notes, and making calls to a child not enrolled at her place of work.
The messages, exchanged between March and July 2019, were deemed sexual in nature, discussing aspects of Miss Barclay’s and the child’s sexuality. The TRA panel concluded that her behaviour was sexually motivated and represented a failure to uphold appropriate boundaries with a child under 16.
The panel report detailed some of the messages and voice notes from Miss Barclay to Child A. In one conversation, Child A asked Miss Barclay “How long ago did you come out?”, to which she responded, before adding: “I was horny.”
Other messages reviewed by the panel included Miss Barclay stating: “I’m NOT QUIET,” as well as “F*** yes f*** yes.”, reports the Liverpool Echo. She also messaged: “My neighbours hate me”, “I do”, “all night”, “when I’m this horny” and “Yes all night.”
The panel also highlighted a separate conversation where Miss Barclay declared: “I like sex”, “sorry” and “why I like younger ones – more Stanina”, “LOL”. The panel interpreted the term “Stanina” as a typographical error, suggesting that the intended word was “Stamina”, which could be inferred from the context of preferring younger partners.
The panel also examined messages in which Miss Barclay asked Child A: “Brilliant, you gay yet? ?”, which they deemed to be a personal email discussing Child A’s sexuality.
Further messages saw Miss Barclay penning phrases such as: “Can’t wait for a cuddle”, “you’re mine,” and “I will never stop loving you.”
The TRA panel concluded that regardless of Miss Barclay’s intentions, the content of the messages sent to Child A were “by their very nature sexual and concerned Miss Barclay’s private life.”
They considered these messages to be personal.
The TRA panel also listened to voice notes sent from Miss Barclay to Child A. One said: “Hey baby don’t get them red bed sheets. I don’t like them red bed sheets, no, can you get the blue ones cos you know that your girlfriend’s favourite colour is blue. Yes.”
Another voice note from the former teacher heard her say: “I am a mother f****** princess don’t you dare call me a d******* you get those sheets that I want or you ain’t sleeping in bed with me tonight b****.”
After certain issues were flagged, Child A was interviewed by the police in August 2019. Miss Barclay was suspended from the school on September 2, just before the commencement of the new academic year, and she was subsequently interviewed by the police on October 18, 2019.
Miss Barclay resigned from her role at the school on August 31, 2020, but the school’s investigation carried on. The police concluded their investigation on April 26, 2021, with no further action taken.
The panel determined that although Child A was not a student at Miss Barclay’s school, she was a pupil elsewhere, and Miss Barclay “ought to have recognised that it was not appropriate use of social media to engage in communications with a child of the nature of that found proven.”
Moreover, the panel “considered that the voice messages contained inappropriate language to be used by a teacher towards a child.”
The volume and timing of the phone communications also breached suitable boundaries.
In her own statements, Miss Barclay mentioned that she had formed a friendship with Child A and since Child A was not her student, she did not associate their conversations with her role as a teacher.
In her representations to the panel, she expressed that Child A was seen as a family friend, and was “like a little sister to her” and that she would “love a daughter like her”. She asserted that “cuddling” is normal within the family context and non-sexual cuddling is not inappropriate.
She also expressed her belief that “as a middle-aged homosexual woman these allegations are homophobic and discriminatory,” arguing that the assumption of sexual motivation was not substantiated by the evidence presented.
She extended her apologies to Child A’s family and anyone else affected, stating: “I am truly sorry.”
The panel concluded it was more probable than not that the messages were precursors to a sexual relationship, at least from Miss Barclay’s perspective.
In its findings, the panel determined that Miss Barclay had engaged in unacceptable professional conduct and that her actions could tarnish the reputation of the profession.
In his written conclusion, Marc Cavey, Chief Executive of the Teacher Regulation Agency, confirmed that Miss Barclay would be banned from teaching.
He stated: “This means that Miss Lianne Barclay is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England.
“Furthermore, in view of the seriousness of the allegations found proved against her, I have decided that Miss Barclay shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of her eligibility to teach.”
According to her Linkedin profile, Miss Barclay hails from Newton-le-Willows and is currently employed in a different sector.