A FORMER Ayrshire teacher who was told he was “lucky not to be facing a murder charge” after assaulting two children has been banned from the profession.

Thomas Taylor stamped on a 15-year-old boy’s head in Troon – months after he’d attacked a boy at a primary school in Ayr.

The 43-year-old was suspended and eventually dismissed following the attacks in December 2022 and May 2023.

The Advertiser previously reported that Taylor, of Portland Terrace, Troon, was given ‘light duties’ as a punishment instead of jail after he admitted carrying out the savage assault on a 15-year-old boy on the town’s Bank Street on May 16, 2023.

Taylor told an investigation by regulator the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTC) that he hoped the victims could “move on from the experience in a positive way” and apologised for his “momentary lapse of judgement”.

Taylor, who had been teaching since 2010, had denied assaulting the 10-year-old at Heathfield Primary School, but was later found guilty following a trial at the town's sheriff court.

He was convicted of pushing the pupil on the body, seizing hold of his clothing and arms, pulling him and marching him back on to the school premises in an incident on December 1, 2022. 

The Troon incident happened at around 9.45pm on May 16 last year when the teenager and a friend were walking in the vicinity of Portland Terrace, near Bank Street, at around 9.45pm. 

In its ruling the GTC stated: "The misconduct identified was so serious that it was fundamentally incompatible with being a registered teacher... to commit offences of violence, particularly against children."

A report added: "The convictions relate to assaulting another person where the conduct included stamping on his victim’s head and repeatedly kicking them on the head and body adds to the seriousness. It also gives rise to a clear risk of behaviour of this type being repeated by the teacher.

"The teacher, in his response to GTC Scotland, did offer an apology for his behaviour, and referred to undertaking [redacted] but he did not provide any vouching to support his current circumstances.

"Whilst on the face of his response the teacher does appear to be taking steps to address his violent offending behaviour the public interest required a finding that the teacher was unfit to teach in the circumstances of this case.

"Someone who behaved in the manner the teacher did, cannot be in a classroom environment, and particularly not as a registered teacher. A finding of being unfit to teach was necessary to maintain the public’s confidence.

"The panel decided to specify that the teacher be prohibited from making a subsequent registration application for a period of two years, being the maximum period of prohibition."

Despite being told by a sheriff that the head-stamping assault "easily meets the threshold for custody", Taylor was placed on an 18-month community payback order and hit with a night-time curfew until early December. As part of the order he was required to attend counselling and focused work as directed by his supervisor.

He was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work in the community within 12 months.

He was made subject to a restriction of liberty order for eight months with electronic monitoring from 7pm-7am.