A TEACHER who was given a suspended prison sentence earlier this week for a £20,000 fraud is already teaching at another Swindon school, under a new name.

Parents of children at Goddard Park Community Primary School were shocked to learn that the Year 4 teacher they knew as Mr Gale was in fact convicted fraudster Simon Burrell.

Burrell, 42, of Rawdon Way in Farringdon, narrowly avoided an immediate custodial sentence after pleading guilty to racking up £20,000 in false overtime and tutoring claims in his role as head teacher of Ruskin Junior School.

He also pleaded guilty to forging the signatures of school governors on claim forms sent to Swindon Borough Council.

Despite knowing about Burrell’s criminal past, Goddard Park School decided to offer him a job as a teacher in September last year and did not say anything to parents.

One woman, whose child attends the school but who did not wish to be named, said: “I’m not happy.

“I do not believe that everyone should pay for the rest of their life for a mistake, but working with children is a role that should be taken seriously as parents put their trust in schools to protect and educate their children.

“The parents were not told, nothing was said to us, and it was only when we saw the news story on Facebook that we realised.”

The Adver understands that on Wednesday, Burrell told his pupils, who are aged just eight and nine, that they might see him in the newspaper for taking money.

Another parent, whose child is taught by Burrell, said she believed the school should have provided parents with all the information so they could come to their own informed decision.

She said: “What he has done is wrong. I was angry that we were not told because I only found out on Facebook.”

Burrell left his position at Ruskin Junior School in 2014, before his offending came to light, to take on the role of head teacher at the Grange Federation.

He was suspended from that position in December 2014 as a result of the police investigation and resigned at the end of August last year.

His new employer is an academy school and therefore has more autonomy when it comes to employing staff, including those with criminal convictions.

Head teacher at Goddard Park, Mike Welsh, said yesterday: “A letter will be sent out today informing parents of the situation.

“He’s doing a brilliant job and the governors have full confidence in him.

“He is very remorseful, he was a head teacher then and he’s not in that position anymore.”

Despite employing Burrell in the midst of the legal proceedings against him, and the fact that he pleaded guilty over a month ago, Mr Welsh said it would not have been appropriate to inform parents before the final conclusion of the case on Tuesday.

There are no plans to review Burrell’s teaching position at the school.