A former Birmingham primary school teacher has been banned from the profession indefinitely after he accessed dark web images of children as young as five.
John Field, who taught at Woodgate Primary School in Bartley Green between 2008 and 2023, was convicted in October 2024 after admitting three counts of making indecent photographs of children.
Police discovered he had downloaded eight Category A images (the most serious category), five Category B images, and 16 Category C images.
The 66-year-old was sentenced in January 2025 to 16 months imprisonment, suspended for 24 months, and placed on the sex offender register for 10 years.
The Teachers Regulation Agency's professional conduct panel has now banned Field from teaching ever again.
Before arriving at the decision, the panel considered statements he made to detectives in April 2023. A police report stated: "[Field] stated he was responsible for downloading indecent images of children from the internet using his laptop. He stated he would use internet search engines for 'teens' and 'jailbait' and explained he was interested in sexual images of female children aged between approximately 14 and 15."
Field also used peer-to-peer networking and the dark web to source child sexual abuse material. He admitted to viewing indecent images for about five years, sometimes downloading images of younger children being sexually abused but deleting those he was not interested in. The victims in the identified material were aged between approximately five and 14 years.
The panel also considered Field's response, dated March 12, 2026, in which he claimed he had undergone various courses "to overcome" his "addictions and obsessions" and had done so "successfully". However, the panel noted it had not received any supporting evidence from him confirming this.
In the report, dated April 24 of this year, decision maker Stuart Blomfield wrote that Field had "demonstrated a degree of accountability for his actions", having "admitted his offending behaviour at the first available opportunity within the criminal proceedings". He added: "The panel considered Mr Field had shown some limited insight and remorse. In his response, dated March 12, 2026, he described his behaviour as 'unforgivable' and stated he was taking steps to address it."
However, the panel considered Field's insight remained materially limited, particularly due to his failure to acknowledge or engage with the impact of his actions on others, including the children who were victims of the material he engaged with.
The panel found Field's offending behaviour to be extremely serious and grave, given the police report and sentencing remarks, which stated Field had actively sought out indecent photographs of children across various categories over a significant period.
Aggravating factors included the duration of offending (approximately five years), the severity of the material, the young ages of victims (including children as young as five), and the use of specific search terms such as 'teens' and 'jailbait'.
In his conclusion, Mr Blomfield wrote: "Field is prohibited from teaching indefinitely and cannot teach in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England. Furthermore, in view of the seriousness of the allegation found proved against him, I have decided that Field shall not be entitled to apply for restoration of his eligibility to teach."
