Nottinghamshire school boss banned after Ofsted death wish and racist texts

A school trust chief who said he hoped Ofsted inspectors would go under a lorry on black ice and sent racist messages to colleagues has been banned from teaching.

Lee Hessey, who was responsible for managing six primary schools as chief executive officer of The Forge Academy Trust based in Nottinghamshire, also called parents who complained about him “vermin and pond life”.

A Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA) panel found Hessey called parents “low life” and a “stupid cow” in messages, which were deemed derogatory, inappropriate and “potentially impugning a person’s mental health”.

In his evidence, Hessey said he was “letting off steam” and the texts did not represent his “true beliefs”.

The panel said it found it “wholly inappropriate to express the hope that Ofsted inspectors would die in a road traffic incident”.

“The language was abusive, offensive and far removed from the standards expected of a head teacher,” it added.

Some of Hessey’s racist messages included derogatory references to Muslims and African people. The tribunal also heard he made references which the panel perceived as mocking a disability.

The panel added that Hessey admitted the allegations, and said in his evidence that the comments were not “statements of his true beliefs” but rather “letting off steam” to two colleagues in a closed message group, sometimes outside of work hours and during a period of stress while performing a difficult and responsible role.