‘DISGUSTED’ parents say they are ‘baying for blood’ after finding out a paedophile teacher could have been caught 14 years earlier if 30 warning signs at the school where he taught had not been ignored.

To send a link to this page to a friend, simply enter their email address below.

The message will include the name and email address you gave us when you signed up.

Email address

  Send link

To send a link to this page to a friend, you must be logged in.

Mothers and fathers whose children were taught by Nigel Leat at Hillside First School are calling for further police action in the wake of a damning report released this week.

A serious case review carried out at the Church Road site in Worle over the past six months this week revealed there were 30 different complaints which were made to senior teachers about Leat’s behaviour towards his six and seven-year-old pupils.

But although concerns were first raised back in 1996, Leat remained free to sexually abuse his pupils for another 14 years before he was finally arrested in 2010.

Authorities accept Leat acted alone in filming himself abusing children in his classroom.

But parents say former headteacher Chris Hood and others responsible for ignoring glaring warning signs that Leat was abusing his pupils, should be investigated by police for neglecting their duties to the children.

One parent said this week: “We feel let down and disgusted that the headmaster could miss so many obvious signs and just sweep them under the carpet.”

The council has been forced to call further meetings at the school this week after parents were left to discover crucial findings of the serious case review through the Mercury website the morning after their briefings with the council.

Another parent said: “I am absolutely disgusted at the report. I find it incredible that all those warnings were ignored.

“It seems Mr Hood was just concerned about his job.

“There’s always a deputy head someone can tell or why didn’t they go to the police?

“I simply do not understand why not one person went to the police about this.

“The school is accountable, the headmaster is accountable and the teachers are accountable for the welfare of the children.

“I’m sickened and simply can’t get my head around it all.

“It’s horrifying to hear and to find out the real details through the media is terrible.”

In December 2010, the Mercury broke news of the arrest of Leat on a string of child abuse charges.

In June last year a judge at Bristol Crown Court ordered him to face an indefinite jail sentence, and since then inquiries have been taking place to help understand how Leat’s crimes went undetected throughout his 15-year teaching career.

The results of an independent serious case review have now been revealed for the first time, and catalogue series of failures by school leadership to protect pupils.

* For more on this story click the link at the top right hand side of the page.