Transgender row teacher 'sacked' from second school

A teacher who called a transgender pupil a girl says he was dismissed by a second school after he said Muhammad was a "false prophet" in a video.

Joshua Sutcliffe said "well done girls" to a group that included a pupil who identified as a boy while teaching at a school in Oxford in 2017.

It can be reported for the first time that both parties settled out of court.

Mr Sutcliffe said he was later dismissed from a school in London over views he posted on his YouTube channel.

Mr Sutcliffe, whose videos include his views about the Bible and Christianity, told the BBC he was "constructively dismissed" from the Catholic school in Islington in November 2019 after he "made a video in which I said 'Mohammad is a false prophet'."

The maths teacher said he "never forced anyone to think or do anything" and "remained professional" while teaching lessons at the school between September 2018 and November 2019.

"I merely voiced my strongly held convictions on a public platform," he said.

Mr Sutcliffe said the school was aware of the Oxford case before and it had been "happy to give me a role".

An investigation in December 2017 found he had "misgendered" the Oxford pupil which broke its policy on equality.

At the time, Mr Sutcliffe told the head teacher he did "not share your belief in the ideology of transgenderism" and later took legal action for constructive dismissal and discrimination.

A reporting restriction made during the employment tribunal prevented identifying anyone involved in media reports and details of the settlement have not been made public.

When contacted by the BBC, Mr Sutcliffe claimed he had been "placed on the altar of the current 'cancel culture' climate".

He said said he had no regrets over his comments and "in both cases" had been "punished" for being "vocal about my Christian position".

"I would rather lose my job than be silenced," he said.

The London school said Mr Sutcliffe resigned after being contacted by the BBC for comment, while the Oxford school declined to comment.