Joe Wilson

Joe Wilson, a teacher at Listerdale Junior Academy in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, faked illness to attend a friend's stag do in Lisbon, before ripping pages from his passport to try and hide it

A teacher "pulled a sickie" to jet off to Portugal for a mate's stag do and later tore out pages from his passport to hide his tracks, a tribunal has discovered. Joe Wilson, who was a Year 6 teacher at Listerdale Junior Academy in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, embarked on the covert holiday on Thursday May 18 and Friday May 19 2023.

He informed the school on the morning of his flight that he had been "up all night being sick", maintaining the deception the following day, before returning to work on Monday. At around 5am on May 18 2023, he messaged: "I'm not going to be in school today. I've been up all night being sick and have got a really bad headache."

The next day he told the same person: "I'm still no better so won't be in school today. Can't keep any food or water down. I'll keep you updated."

However, an anonymous staff member flagged up photos of Mr Wilson in an airport with a pint of beer in his hand, the panel heard.

One of the snaps featuring him was posted by another individual at 5.23am on the morning of May 18 2023 with the caption: "Early start for... stag do, few beers with the Portugal gaffer".

Mr Wilson initially claimed the photographs were from a previous trip, but later confessed to the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) that he "agreed to attend a stag do in Lisbon" and he "made a huge error of judgement but (felt) the situation at the time influenced (him) to make this poor decision".

He also admitted to the TRA in October 2025 that he "accepted full responsibility" for his actions, including "falsifying a sickness".

In February, he emailed the agency confessing he "pulled a sickie to go on (his) mates stag do".

Mr Wilson even went as far as removing pages from his passport to conceal his travels.

He confessed to the TRA that he "made a huge mistake of taking out a page of (his) passport" following "an informal chat with (his) headteacher", who "encouraged (him) to show something 'to get them off my case'".

He also expressed that he was "ashamed" of his actions.

An investigation report revealed Mr Wilson handed his passport to a school representative in June 2023 and photocopies of the document showed pages 9, 10, 27 and 28 were missing, according to the tribunal.

The panel confirmed it was proven that Mr Wilson was absent from school without a valid reason, falsely claimed to the school that he was absent due to illness when this wasn't the case, and removed pages from his passport which would have contained stamps indicating he was abroad on the dates in question.

"In falsely reporting his sickness absence and providing an altered document during an investigation, Mr Wilson was intentionally misleading the school and concealing the truth," the panel stated in its judgment.

"The panel considered that Mr Wilson's behaviour fell below the ethical standards expected of a teacher and was contrary to the manner in which the profession professes to serve the public."

The investigation also concluded that his behaviour lacked integrity, was dishonest, and that his actions could tarnish the reputation of the profession.

It was determined that a prohibition order, which would result in Mr Wilson being barred from teaching, was not proportionate, but that publicising the findings would suffice.