Teacher claims he lost career after being branded 'danger to women'

A primary school PE teacher who claimed he lost his career after being accused of sexual misconduct by a female former colleague is suing her for libel.

Ian Fry alleges his contract at a Worcester primary school was not renewed after artist and former colleague Yasmin Agilah-Hood emailed his headteacher, implying that he 'poses a physical danger to female staff... and to women generally'.

Claiming to be a 'whistleblower,' Ms Agilah-Hood alleged Mr Fry had been put on 'gardening leave' in a former job after accusations of 'sexual misconduct' by female members of staff.

Ms Agilah-Hood admitted in her email that she had 'zero evidence', but Mr Fry says that, despite it being 'no more than gossip', it has irretrievably ruined his reputation and career.

Mr Fry, who denies all wrongdoing, is now suing Ms Agilah-Hood at the High Court in London, claiming damages for libel and an injunction to prevent her repeating the statements.

The case reached court as a judge was asked to decide on the meaning of the words in her email, with a ruling last week by Mrs Justice Hill that the words were defamatory of Mr Fry.

The court heard that Mr Fry and Ms Agilah-Hood were formerly colleagues at a school where Mr Fry had worked before taking up his role at Worcester's Northwick Manor Primary School.

During that time, he coached the county championship-winning school football team and in 2021 went on to publish a book about his experience battling cancer.

Ms Agilah-Hood, who describes herself online as 'a mixed race, queer, neurodivergent visual artist, creative practitioner and performer', sent her email to his headteacher during lockdown in March 2021.

In it, she claimed to be a 'whistleblower' and stated that Mr Fry had been given 'gardening leave' at his former workplace due to allegations of 'sexual misconduct' from staff.

'I realise that what I am passing on to you comes with zero evidence,' she said, adding that the staff members she mentioned were 'unlikely to speak up.'

Mr Fry alleges his contract with Northwick Manor came to an end in August 2021, but was not renewed and, after subsequently learning about the email, he sued for libel.

The case reached court last month, with Mrs Justice Hill asked to decide as a preliminary issue whether the contents of the email could be reasonably regarded as defamatory.

Giving judgement last week, she said it could, explaining: 'The claimant claims that he suffered considerable hurt, distress and embarrassment by these statements and that his reputation has been damaged irrecoverably.

'He asserts that his contract with Northwick Manor was not renewed after the defendant sent this email and that he has been unable to obtain further employment as a teacher.

'At the trial, the defendant submitted that it was her honest opinion that the claimant posed a risk to women.

'She realised as she said in the email that she had 'zero' evidence to back up her concerns, but she believed they were facts.

'The claimant referred to the fact that twice in her email the defendant said she had no evidence. The defendant had not specified where she got the information from. It was no more than gossip.'

She found that the 'ordinary meaning' of the words in the email were that Mr Fry was a 'safeguarding risk' and 'posed a physical danger to female staff at Northwick Manor and to women generally.'

'The natural and ordinary meaning of the statements complained of...was that there were reasonable grounds to suspect that the claimant was guilty of sexual misconduct,' she continued.

It would also be read as meaning that Mr Fry is 'not fit for his job as a teacher' and lacks 'professional honesty and integrity,' she concluded, finding that the meaning of the statements were 'defamatory.'

Unless the parties agree a settlement, the case will now go on to a full trial at a later date.