Man who described 7 October as ‘a justified act of resistance’ allowed to remain a teacher

A religious studies teacher who wrote on social media in early 2024 that Hamas had “committed no crime”, called them “defenders of humanity” and referred to 7 October as “a justified act of resistance” has been allowed to continue in the profession after a misconduct panel heard he was “remorseful”.

Ronan Preston, from Ireland, had been teaching at the Ursuline Catholic High School in South London when he made the comments via a Twitter account between January and May 2024. When his identity was revealed by the “GnasherJew” social media account, Ursuline suspended Preston, also known as Preastuin, and subsequently dismissed him following a disciplinary hearing.

However, The Telegraph has reported that Preston has managed to being struck off the teaching register, after a Teaching Regulatory Agency misconduct panel found that he had committed unacceptable professional conduct but concluded that it would be enough of a punishment for him if they published their findings.

Among the posts on the Twitter account belonging to Mr Preston were the statements that “October 7 was a justified act of resistance under a brutal and crushing occupation”, and that “I’m delighted to tell you monsters that Hamas committed no crime”.

Other posts included one stating “Glory to Hamas and freedom for humanity…victory over the imperialist racists!”

As reported by the Telegraph, the panel described Preston’s posts as  “abhorrent and extremely offensive, demonstrating a lack of tolerance and respect for Israel, Jewish people and Judaism”, but said that they were “entirely out of character”. The panel also concluded that there was “no evidence that any pupil at the school saw the posts in question or was harmed by them”.

The recommendation of the panel to the Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson was that, “applying the standard of the ordinary intelligent citizen, it would not be a proportionate and appropriate response to recommend a prohibition order.” A decision maker named on behalf of the Secretary of State for Education subsequently agreed with that recommendation, saying: “I agree with the panel that the findings of misconduct in this case are serious and have the potential to undermine the standing of the teaching profession. However, I also agree with the panel that there is a public interest in retaining Mr Preston in the profession and that Mr Preston has taken extensive steps which substantially reduce the risk that he might repeat this behaviour.”

Preston described the posts as “a mistake”, saying he felt “mortified and ashamed”. He also said he “wished to apologise unreservedly to the Jewish community”.

However, the Campaign Against Antisemitism described the panel’s conclusion as “deeply concerning”, saying: “We will be challenging this and are reviewing all of our options.”