A disgraced headteacher who used funds to build a “sex dungeon” alongside his office has been banned from teaching for life.

James Stewart, 74, was executive principal at Sawtry Village Academy in Cambridgeshire until 2014 when the Department for Education launched an investigation into his running of the school.

He was convicted of fraud and misconduct in public office for offences between 2011 and 2014, and was jailed for four years in October 2017.

North West Cambridgeshire MP Shailesh Vara raised the case during education questions in the House of Commons in 2017.

He said the school had been left in “serious financial difficulty”, and that this was “not least because of the activities of its former head which included building a sex dungeon alongside his office for his private use”.

A Teaching Regulation Agency panel concluded in a report published on Friday that it was “proportionate” to ban Stewart from teaching indefinitely.

The report said: “Whilst Mr Stewart previously had a good record, the panel found no evidence that the teacher’s actions were not deliberate, nor was he acting under duress.

“In fact, the panel found the teacher’s actions to be calculated, motivated and sustained for a number of years.”

It said the panel took into account the “significant detrimental impact on the financial position of the college and the more lasting damage to the education of its pupils during this period, together with the longer term reputational damage as a result of Mr Stewart’s actions”.

Stewart, who did not attend the hearing, has the right to appeal against the decision.

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