A former Powys teacher who was convicted of dangerous driving after causing a three-car crash has been cleared in a disciplinary hearing after receiving backing from fellow teachers.
Osian Davies who was head of music at Ysgol Bro Caereinion was convicted of dangerous driving in 2019 after causing a three-car crash after overtaking in a blind spot on the road between Trewern and Middletown on April 13, 2018 – colliding with a van and another car at 50mph.
No one was injured in the accident, but Mr Davies was later convicted of dangerous driving, leading to a year-long ban from driving and 80 hours of community service.
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Mr Davies, who now works at Ysgol David Hughes in Anglesey, was this week brought before of a disciplinary hearing by the Educational Workforce Council after he alerted them to his conviction at the end of the last year.
He self-referred at that point as he did not previously know he was supposed to make the EWC aware of convictions.
“I am embarrassed that I ever made that decision,” said Mr Davies, referring to his overtaking manoeuvre that caused the crash.
“To this day I am grateful that no one was injured. I still have an overwhelming sense of shame and guilt.”
Presenting officer for the Education Workforce Council of Wales, Helen Roddick, said that Mr Davies should face sanction as he had damaged his position as a role model with older students and “lowered the trust and confidence” of the profession – all of which would be considered serious breaches of professional standards.
However, Mr Davies’ representative, Sion Amlyn, said his performance as a teacher was still outstanding with many of his classes achieving 100 percent A*-C grades at GCSE.
Mr Davies also received letters of support from the former headteachers he worked for. All declared his good character leading to Mr Amlyn to declare that Mr Davies was a “brilliant teacher” and that he was an “asset to his profession”.
Mr Amlyn argued that his conduct did not show “any pattern of criminality” and that he should not be punished for a decision that was made in a “blink of an eye”.
The Educational Workforce panel who were judging the decision admonished Mr Davies for the incident and said it was serious and could have damaged the confidence of the public and that his standards of behaviour had “fallen short” in certain areas.
They also reiterated that whilst there had been no injuries in the crash there had been the potential for serious harm.
However the panel found that his actions had brought “no damage” to his profession and that he could continue without further sanction.
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