A married headteacher invited a colleague into his office where she found him with his trousers pulled down and his erect penis in full view, a professional standards hearing was told.
Colleague B told the Education Workforce Council (EWC) hearing on Tuesday how the alleged incident with James Richards more than ten years ago left her feeling “worthless” and “awful”. Richards faces several accusations relating to his time as headteacher of Cadle Primary School in Swansea. All of the allegations are taken as denied by Mr Richards as he was not present and not represented at the hearing and has not responded to the EWC, the panel was told.
Colleague B said Mr Richards had been “flirty” on the day of the alleged incident, and later asked her on the phone to come to his office to collect a form. The woman said she knocked on the door and entered. “I knew he was expecting me to walk in and pick up the form,” she told the hearing. Her evidence detailed how she saw Mr Richards standing with his trousers down, “with his erect penis out”. The hearing’s presiding officer, Sara Lewis, asked colleague B: “What exactly did you see when you opened the door?” Colleague B replied: “Him standing there, his trousers were open and pulled down and his penis was erect.” She added that Mr Richards was “smirking” at this point.
Another former colleague, referred to as colleague C, described how, in June 2013, she was in a meeting with Mr Richards when he allegedly made a comment about comparing her breasts with his wife's breasts. Then, in July 2013, she said he showed her a picture of his penis on his mobile phone. “I knew I wanted to get out of the room as quickly as possible,” she told the hearing. “I was very panicked. I felt uneasy about the situation.”
On Monday, the EWC hearing was told that Mr Richards exposed his penis to a teacher and told her “inspect this, miss”. Mr Richards was formally suspended from his post on September 13, 2021, and dismissed in 2024. The hearing, which is expected to last five days, continues.
