Former Ofsted inspector wins unfair dismissal case after being sacked for brushing water off child’s head

A former Ofsted inspector was unfairly dismissed when bosses sacked him for brushing water off a child’s head, the Court of Appeal has found.

Andrew Hewston was sacked for gross misconduct in October 2019.

In August 2023, an employment appeal tribunal overturned an original tribunal judgment and ruled Ofsted was wrong to dismiss him.

However, Ofsted worked to overturn that decision and took the case to the Court of Appeal.

Rejecting the appeal, the judges said they were keen to give their decision on the long-running case immediately.

Christina McAnea, general secretary at UNISON, said: “Andrew Hewston’s career was unnecessarily cut short by Ofsted.

“He never should have been sacked and Ofsted shouldn’t have wasted public money pursuing him through the courts.

“The speed at which the judges rejected Ofsted’s appeal reflects how wrong it was to continue going after Andrew. Hopefully his long ordeal is now finally drawing to a close.