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Daily Record
6 days ago
- Daily Record
Teacher accused of upskirting girls fled to Australia to return to class
Dean Barr was accused of looking up girls skirts and down their tops. A teacher fled to Australia for work after he was suspended in Scotland over claims he "upskirted" female pupils. Dean Barr, 36, had been working at a school in Helensburgh for seven years before he was accused of a series inappropriate behaviour towards teenage girls - including looking up their skirts and down their tops - as well as making a number of unwanted comments. A probe was launched by the General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS) in June 2023. In October that year, he was placed on a Temporary Restriction Order preventing him from teaching while the probe continued. But Barr headed to Western Australia in April 2024, where he applied to register as a teacher. During the process, he failed to declare his involvement in a disciplinary process or the concerning allegations against him. In June that year, he landed a job in the Design and Technology department at Halls Head College, in Mandurah, near Perth, where he worked for four months until the country's education department was made aware of concerns around his fitness to teach. Teaching officials then contacted colleagues back in Scotland, before discovering the shocking details of the investigation into his conduct. It is alleged that in March 2020, Barr slapped the pupil on the bottom and said 'Oh that couldn't have gone any better". In the same month, he is accused of messaging pupils privately on X, formerly known as Twitter. Between August and October 2022, the former business teacher allegedly called pupils 'pretty' and referred to them as cats, brushed a pen on a female pupil's face, bent down to move boxes so he could look up two pupils' skirts and whispered in a female pupil's ear while looking down her top. Barr also allegedly made unnecessary contact with pupils, repeatedly putting his arm around them. In November 2022, Barr asked one female student if a ladder on her tights was 'a ladder or a stairway to heaven'. It is understood the GTCS are still investigating the reported behaviour after being contacted by education officials in Australia. Barr's employment at Halls Head College was terminated in December 2024, after the allegations in Scotland came to light. A parent of one of the girls who accused Barr of inappropriate behaviour told of her shock at the news he had moved countries to secure another teaching job. She said: "He thought he avoid all this because he moved to Australia. But someone stopped him. Hopefully now some action will be taken." The mum said her daughter is "traumatised" by the alleged incidents. She said: "My daughter said it started with a comment and it took nearly four months for her to tell me something was wrong. She would do anything not to go in to school. After a while, I didn't recognise her because she was shell of who she used to be. She is still traumatised and has serious trust issues." Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. A spokesperson for Argyll and Bute Council said: "Appropriate action was taken at the time. As this is an ongoing General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) and Police investigation, we are unable to comment further.' A spokesperson for the GTCS said: 'We do not comment on individual Fitness to Teach cases for legal reasons."
West Australian
01-06-2025
- West Australian
Dean Barr: Halls Head College teacher's registration cancelled over disturbing allegations of misconduct in UK
The West Australian exclusive Dean Barr: Halls Head College teacher's registration cancelled over disturbing allegations of misconduct in UK
