TEACHER BANNED FOR SHAKING BABY CAUSING BRAIN DAMAGE
A teacher who was imprisoned for shaking a 43-day-old infant, resulting in brain injury, has been permanently prohibited from practicing in his profession.Jonathan Sinfield was employed at Wellsway School in Keynsham at the time of the incident.
In June 2022, he was convicted by Bristol Crown Court after admitting to causing grievous bodily harm and assault causing actual bodily harm in March of that year.
At the time, Sinfield, then 31, was babysitting the young child in Bath when the incident occurred, as reported in court.
Initially, he claimed the child had fallen ill and hit its head on a sofa, but later stated he had dropped the infant from about 1 meter (3.3 feet) in height.
Medical experts indicated that the severity and nature of the injuries suggested the child had been forcefully shaken and held tightly, rather than simply falling or hitting an object.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service noted this professional assessment.
Following the conviction, the Teaching Regulation Agency’s professional conduct panel has officially disqualified Sinfield from teaching, with no option for appeal or review.
According to their report, Sinfield continues to insist that he was wrongly convicted.
It also pointed out that the offences did not involve students or school staff, occurring outside the educational environment.
However, after review, the panel determined that Sinfield’s criminal convictions were relevant to his capacity to teach and work with children within an educational setting.
The report referenced the judge’s remarks, which mentioned Sinfield’s mental state at the time as possibly influencing his actions.
Nonetheless, the panel found no evidence suggesting his actions were accidental or taken under extreme duress.
Furthermore, they observed that Sinfield had shown little remorse for his actions.
His conviction was classified as extremely serious, leading to his imprisonment.
The panel concluded that Sinfield still perceives himself as wrongly convicted, a viewpoint he expressed in a letter to the TRA.
Sinfield started working at the secondary school in 2015.
It was noted that he did not attend the conduct hearing and was unrepresented during the proceedings.
