Teacher discussed cocaine with pupils and called Islam 'satanic'

A teacher who described Islam as "satanic" and told pupils that "cocaine was purer back in the day" has been found guilty of professional misconduct.

The Teaching Regulation Agency panel heard that Patrick Lawler, who taught in Northumberland and Bristol, also brought the teaching profession into disrepute.

Mr Lawler previously featured in an undercover BBC Wales investigation into extreme far-right views among a group's members in Wales and England, in which he said race war was "inevitable".

Mr Lawler replied to the BBC's request for comment but did not address the points raised in the hearing, instead giving his own criticism of the BBC.

The teacher's views appeared in BBC Wales documentary Unmasked: Extreme Far Right, in which an undercover reporter infiltrated far-right group Patriotic Alternative (PA) and met members in parts of south Wales, and in England.

Speaking in 2024 to the undercover reporter at an event held by the group, he said a race war was "absolutely inevitable".

He told the reporter that "all" foreigners had no right to be in the UK and said if any refused to leave "the only way to get rid of them will be to kill every single one of them. And we will have to have hearts of steel to do that."

When asked about his comments afterwards, Mr Lawler accused the BBC of having an anti-white bias and "persecuting ordinary British people who care deeply about the safety and wellbeing of our indigenous people".

He appears to still be involved with his regional branch of the group, recently being pictured on the PA Telegram channel attending a Christmas dinner.

The panel, which considered allegations predating BBC Wales' investigation, found that Mr Lawler "authored or co-authored" a series of online newsletters saying Islam was "demonic" and "satanically inspired".

It also heard that his posts stated that sex between two men was an "unnatural, unhealthy, disgusting perversion".

The panel found Mr Lawler was entitled to hold his own beliefs, but the newsletters were "not just advancing strongly held opinions" but were "attacks" on positions that Mr Lawler "sought to denigrate".

In 2019, Mr Lawler was employed by Bede Academy in Northumberland, and during what was due to be a class on medieval history, he instead started to discuss American civil rights activists, the panel heard.

It found that he told a visiting group of year six children that Rosa Parks "did not exist", and that Martin Luther King was guilty of plagiarism.

His comments were ruled "inappropriate and unprofessional", with the panel noting pupils of that age did not have the ability to challenge minority views presented in an "unbalanced fashion".

In a discussion about the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, Mr Lawler was found to have told pupils that "BLM" stood for "burn, loot, murder".

He was also found to have said in December 2020 that "back in the day, you used to be able to get cocaine, purer", or words to that effect.

A pupil said Mr Lawler started talking about the drug of his own volition and it was in no way related to the lesson.

The panel also found him to have told pupils that they should all be "hanging from lampposts" because of poor performance in their mock exams.

The hearing was told this was while the class were discussing mental health and life expectancy, with one pupil "taken aback" as she was "going through struggles" at the time.

The panel heard Mr Lawler was warned about his conduct by his employer at the time.

Bede Academy, having received advice in April 2019, sent a warning letter in July 2019, and Mr Lawler was the subject of disciplinary action in December 2020.

But he later resigned his position during the course of that investigation, going on to work for a supply teaching agency in Bristol, in September 2022.

The hearing concluded that he engaged in further inappropriate or unprofessional behaviour in a lesson at Bristol Brunel Academy, stating that there was "no scientific proof of Covid-19" in September 2022.

When further concerns were raised, the agency he worked for later referred him to the Teaching Regulation Agency.

The panel found that Mr Lawler had simply "moved into advancing his own controversial views and did so in an unbalanced fashion".

Chairwoman Louisa Munton said his actions "could not be reasonably considered as trivial, inconsequential or a mere temporary lapse" and constituted "unacceptable professional conduct and or conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute".

She added the panel will now consider in private whether to make a recommendation to the secretary of state that Mr Lawler should be banned from teaching.