Teacher banned after writing 'offensive and racist' posts about Israel on Facebook

The former Head of Maths at a school in Bedfordshire who posted "Israel should be wiped off the planet" on Facebook has been banned from teaching.

Harpreet Singh, 48, was working at Sandye Place Academy in Sandy when he wrote the comment.

He also made other "offensive and racist" posts on the social media site, including one which said: "Of course we hate Jews. Israel is the most evil regime on the planet."

Mr Singh was suspended from the school in June 2017, and was later sacked.

He claimed that his comments were directed at the Israeli government, rather than rather than Jewish people in general, and a misconduct panel accepted that he is not anti-Semitic.

Mr Singh said that he was "extremely sorry" and "regretted" his comments, but did suggest that his posts were taken out of context.

It was also revealed that he searched websites for alcohol and properties during lessons.

The panel recommended that Mr Singh should be banned from teaching in "any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children’s home in England" for the next three years, at which point he will then be able to apply to have the prohibition order lifted.