Birmingham primary teacher who took ‘hundreds’ of ‘disturbing’ images of children banned for life

A deformed primary school teacher who made and shared hundreds of “disturbing” images of children has been banned from teaching for life. Neil Moss, who was also found guilty of attempting to engage in sexual intercourse with a child, was banned by a teaching misconduct panel last month.

Mr Moss was suspended from Topcliffe Academy, Castle Vale, in May 2020 after he was arrested by police on suspicion of distributing indecent images of children. In February 2021, he pleaded guilty in court to making and distributing explicit photographs of a child and to a further charge of attempting to engage in sexual intercourse with a child.

Mr Moss, 42, was given a suspended prison sentence and has now been banned from teaching for life by the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), with no possibility of a review. Topcliffe Academy has been contacted for comment.

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Neil Moss has been employed at Topcliffe Academy since 1 September 2016 as a Resource Core Autism Teacher. The professional conduct committee hearing, which met on 29 April 2024, found that Mr Moss “fundamentally breached the standard of conduct expected of a teacher”.

The images were “disturbing to behold”

On 29 May 2020, following an intelligence report, West Midlands Police arrested Mr Moss on suspicion of distributing indecent images of children. It was revealed in court that police found hundreds of indecent images on Mr Moss’ device.

63 category A photos were found, the most serious in the eyes of the law. A further 222 Category B images and 683 Category C images were found, although it was acknowledged that some may have been “duplicates”.

A judge at Mr Moss’s sentencing hearing said: “The nature of the images themselves … is of course distressing to contemplate.” The TRA panel also saw excerpts of messages sent by Mr Moss on the Kik messaging app to a child.

“Lack of full understanding and remorse”

The TRA group took the decision to ban Mr Moss from teaching for life, saying public confidence in the profession would be “seriously undermined” if such behavior was not treated with the “utmost seriousness”. It found that Mr Moss “fundamentally breached the standard of conduct expected of a teacher”.

Mr Moss was not present or represented at the hearing, having previously requested that the hearing be held in private. The panel found there was no evidence his actions were not deliberate and said the fact that he pleaded guilty in his criminal trial demonstrated “a degree of responsibility”.

However, the jury also found that Mr Moss had shown a “complete lack of perspective and remorse” by failing to reflect on the impact of his actions on his victims in court, meaning there was a “risk of repetition” . The panel was of the view that Mr Moss should be banned from teaching for life without the possibility of a review.

Decision maker David Oatley said: “The panel finds that Mr Moss’s conduct fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession. Misconduct findings are particularly serious as they include a finding of a conviction for distributing and making indecent or fake photographs. photographs of children and attempting to engage in sexual intercourse with a child.”

He continued: “In this case we considered the extent to which a banning order would protect children and protect pupils. The commission observed: “In light of the commission’s findings against Mr Moss, which involved the possession and distribution of indecent images of children and attempting to engage in sexual intercourse with a child, there was a strong public interest consideration in terms of the protection and student welfare. Therefore, an injunction would prevent such a risk from being present in the future.”

Topcliffe Academy has been contacted for comment.