A FORMER Burnley man cleared of sexually abusing a teenage boy in a notorious child prostitute area in Thailand has been sacked by his Wolverhampton public school.

Philip Howarth, 39, was dismissed from his job as a maths teacher at The Royal Wolverhampton Junior School following news of the Thai court's verdict, when a judge said there was evidence he was about to commit a crime.

Mr Howarth, who is also a Wolverhampton magistrate, has been forbidden from entering any part of the school premises by governors who waited four months for the foreign investigation to be complete before ruling they had no confidence in their employee.

In a statement the school said: "Due process of law having been concluded in Thailand the governors at a meeting unanimously resolved to summarily dismiss Mr Howarth from the school's employment.

"The serious nature of the allegations made against Mr Howarth having resulted in an irreparable breakdown of trust and confidence in him, making a further working relationship no longer possible."

Mr Howarth was arrested after he was discovered with a half-naked 14-year-old in his hotel room in the Thai resort of Pattaya. In summing up the judge said although there was evidence Howarth was about to commit a crime there was no evidence he had succeeded in doing so.

His discharge and that of two Dutch teachers arrested at the same time but acquitted two weeks ago has been dogged by allegations of misconduct and bribery.

Mr Howarth's mum, who lives in the Burnley area, said: "I was over the moon when I received a call from Philip to say he had been cleared. Me and Philip's family and friends knew he was innocent and now it has been officially proved."

She would not comment on his sacking, although she said she was aware of the fact and she did not know when her son would be returning to England.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.