Teacher banned from the classroom after throwing pupil out of doorway into playground

The teacher who threw his student on the playground was banned from entering the classroom.

Joseph Luttman, then a teacher at Marland School in Barnstaple, was accused of pushing a pupil (Student A) causing him to fall to the ground, then pushing him a second time and then throwing him through an open door onto the outside playground, causing him to fall on his back.

Student A’s mother emailed the school on September 7, 2023, asking for a summary of what happened and why she had not been asked to sign an accident form. The next day, she sent an email claiming that her son had been injured by a staff member and had bruises, scrapes and marks on his body and head.

A multi-agency strategy meeting was held days later, attended by school officers, the Local Government Appointed Officer and the police.

Mr Luttman accepted a police caution in relation to his conduct in relation to the assault by beating contrary to section 39 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, which occurred at the school in January 2024 on the date of the incident.

The Teaching Regulatory Authority (TRA) agreed to Mr Luttman’s request for the allegations to be shared without a hearing; The former teacher submitted a signed statement containing agreed facts and admitting unacceptable professional conduct.

In an agreed statement of facts, Mr. Luttman admitted that during the lesson he taught, students A and B were chasing each other around the classroom. He said that he pushed the A student who fell to the ground. He said he pushed them twice into Student B when Student A stood up.

Mr Luttman said he grabbed Student A by the right arm and shoulder, used both arms to lift them up and threw them through an open door into the garden area outside. When Student A tried to tell her mother about the incident, the student poked and tickled her while she was in her car seat.

Responding to an email from Student A’s mother, the vice principal said “no accidents were reported, the closest thing Joe could think of to that situation was that he and Student A crashed into each other in the garden as you were informed, but there were no injuries and they giggled about it.”

Another email stated that Mr. Luttman did not notify Student A that he had run into him, and when the student tried to tell him what had happened, the teacher distracted him by tickling him.

The panel found Mr Luttman fell “significantly short of the standards expected within the profession” and breached safeguarding guidelines, including Keeping Children Safe in Education

Mr. Luttman’s physical actions towards Student A were described as “threatening and frightening, given that these were actions taken by an adult against a minor child and were also inappropriate.”

The panel’s CCTV footage revealed that the teacher did not use what could be considered “reasonable force” and the TRA said it was “inappropriate for him to attempt to stop Student A from reporting the incident to his mother”.

Mr. Luttman is indefinitely prohibited from teaching and will not have the right to apply for restoration of his right to teach.