A teacher reprimanded after making homophobic, racist and Islamophobic comments to his class has had his hearing deferred after causing racist tension in Birmingham.
BNP teacher Adam Walker stands accused of the charges from when he was an IT teacher in 2007 at Houghton Kepier Sports College near Sunderland. Amongst the accusations was that the teacher used computer IT equipment to contribute ‘fascist’ views on internet discussion boards in work hours.
After leaving his job because of the allegations, Walker admitted to being a member of the British National Party and to being president of Solidarity, a supposed trade union which nevertheless distances itself from other such organisations because of its allegedly racist outlook.
On 22 September, the General Teaching Council was due to hold the hearing in Birmingham, but the case was delayed due to ‘the potential public order consequences of the hearing’. The case comes at a time when anti-Muslim sentiment runs high in the city after the English Defence League attacked Asians in the region.
Speaking on behalf of West Midlands police, Matt Ward called for the hearing to be postponed and a new date for the hearing will be set in the next week.