Teacher banned after secretly filming student and making wrapping paper with their face on it

A teacher who sent inappropriate emails and notes and secretly photographed and filmed students has been banned from teaching indefinitely.

Peter Ledwidge, a religious studies teacher at the Anglo European School in Essex, was found to have conducted himself in a way that was sexually motivated and/or of a sexual nature.

A professional conduct panel also heard that Mr Ledwidge gave unwanted gifts to students, including one who received a pair of stockings wrapped in paper with her face on it. 

The panel said: “The evidence recovered from the searches of Mr Ledwidge’s devices indicate an infatuation with Pupil A with Mr Ledwidge accepting the Police’s characterisation of this behaviour as “obsessive” about her when interviewed by the Police.” 

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Emails revealed that between October 2019 and May 2021, Mr Ledwidge sent inappropriate emails to a student in which he referred to her as “special” and his “favourite”. 

One email said: “Like the moon: her splendour when visible, her attraction when invisible”, while another read “ ‘…please don’t say anything about this to ANYONE”. 

The emails were obtained following a search of Mr Ledwidge’s computer by the school’s IT team. 

In a note to the same student, he told her: “I hope you didn’t mind that I put down in words (to paraphrase Elton John) how wonderful life is while you’re in class”. 

Another note said: “If you’d chosen Spanish over R.S., I’d have quickly trained to become a Spanish teacher.”

He also supplied mock exam questions to the student in advance of an exam. 

The panel heard that Mr Ledwidge sent unwanted gifts to the student, including a flat cap, an engraved mirror, a record and a George Harrison drawing. 

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In a witness statement to the police, the student said that she did not ask for the items and that they made her feel “sick with disgust”. 

Mr Ledwidge also demonstrated a karate kick and kicked the student on her bottom. When asked about the incident, he said it was a “Marx Brothers gag” and not for sexual gratification.

During a police investigation, the former teacher was found to have made internet searches which included locating the student’s address.

The search also uncovered videos and images of students taken discreetly, including one, which he told police he ”instinctively thought, oh I’ll video her, I don’t know, maybe as a memento, a memory, I don’t know”. 

When asked why he needed a memento of the student, he said that he was creating a character based on her for his book and that “you don’t get photos at the end”. 

On another occasion, a separate student received a pair of stockings in customised wrapping paper with her face on it.

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The panel also heard that between January 2021 and May 2021, he sent videos from his personal email address to his work email address depicting scenes of violence and of a sexual nature. 

In May 2021, a student disclosed Mr Ledwidge’s conduct to the school, and he was suspended and referred to Essex Police.

Two months later, he was arrested on suspicion of two counts of harassment by an officer in relation to allegations made by two students.

The Crown Prosecution Service did not take any further action against the teacher.

Due to the seriousness of the allegations found against him, Mr Ledwidge is not entitled to apply for his prohibition to be set aside.