MAT Times - Insights

Trust boss banned for offensive language

Written by Charles Wheeldon | Sep 8, 2026, 12:47:04 PM

The chief executive of The Forge Trust Lee Hessey has been banned indefinitely from teaching in any school, sixth form college, relevant youth accommodation or children's home in England, the BBC has reported.

The Forge Trust operates eight schools across Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. Hessey was responsible for managing six primary schools.

A Teacher Regulation Agency panel found Hessey called parents who complained about him "vermin and pond life” and also called parents "low life" and called one a "stupid cow" in messages. Other messages included derogatory references to Muslims and Africans and he was also perceived to have mocked a disability.

Hessey said he was "letting off steam" and the texts didn’t represent his "true beliefs".

However, the panel was unimpressed finding it "wholly inappropriate to express the hope that Ofsted inspectors would die in a road traffic incident".

It concluded: "The language was abusive, offensive and far removed from the standards expected of a head teacher.”