A disgraced teacher has been banned from the profession after being convicted of a drunken assault following a school social.

Paul Maloney, former assistant headteacher at Fortismere School in Muswell Hill, was handed a prohibition order for a minimum three years on October 22 following a misconduct panel.

Zoe Judge and Jo Davey, the co-headteachers of Fortismere, say they support the outcome of the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).

The panel heard how Maloney, 46, grabbed the victim by their neck and throat, banged their head on the stairs and was verbally abusive during the attack at his home in the early hours of December 7, 2019.

On June 29 this year he was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm at North West London Magistrates’ Court. Maloney was sentenced to 15 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.

The 46-year-old was employed by Fortismere as assistant head when he committed the offence. Before the late-night attack he spent the evening at a social event of the senior leadership team.

The day after the incident police arrested Maloney at the school. Under interview he initially denied the assault.

A specialist officer of the local authority advised the school to suspend the assistant head, pending an investigation.

On January 14, 2020, just over a month after the offence took place, the school dismissed Maloney.

The victim of the assault was not named in the panel. The TRA cited documentary evidence provided by Maloney that he was intoxicated during the assault, which was described as a “sustained incident”.

The panel found Maloney’s conduct breached teachers’ standards, posing a possible threat to pupils’ safety – and that his actions “fell short” of the standards required of a role model.

It noted the ex-teacher expressed remorse, had begun rehabilitation and experienced personal issues affecting his mental health.

The panel heard Maloney had an “unblemished teaching career and had acted substantially out of character”.

John Knowles, of the TRA, issued a prohibition order against the 46-year-old which means he is prohibited from teaching indefinitely at any school, sixth form college, youth accommodation or children’s home in England.

The former Fortismere assistant head can apply to a panel to have the prohibition order removed in in three years’ time.