A headteacher who was cleared of fraud involving school funds has been struck off.

The fitness to practise committee of the Education Workforce Council upheld eight charges against Nicholas Hankin, who lived in Rhos on Sea, and that amounted to unacceptable professional conduct.

The five-day hearing took place in February but the findings have just been published.

In November, 2017, Mr Hankin walked free from Mold Crown Court with his “good character intact” after being found not guilty of two charges, and he later claimed to have been a victim of a witchhunt

He was suspended in December, 2015, while he was head of Ysgol Gwenfro in Caia Park, Wrexham, when it was alleged that he had used school money to lease two Apple Mac laptops as Christmas presents for his partner and son.

The second charge related to a similar allegation at his previous school, Ysgol Tanyfron.

Mr Hankin told the court that the laptops were for work purposes and he believed he was operating within a £15,000 credit limit.

After the trial he said the issue had “destroyed his life”, causing distress to himself and his family, and that he would be seeking a tribunal hearing against Wrexham County Borough Council.

The fitness to practise committee found that he had failed to follow financial regulations at Gwenfro, Tanyfron and St Mary’s schools, had misled the governing body at Tanyfron and failed to manage his absences and “communicate with others in a timely manner”.

He was also said to have completed an inaccurate, misleading self-evaluation report for the Ysgol Gwenfro which he sent to GwE North Wales Consortium, the body set up to monitor schools’ effectiveness, and he was found to have provided incorrect information about his time as a Police Constable in the City of London Police when applying for the post of head teacher at Gwenfro.

Mr Hankin was found to have been dishonest in all those matters.

He has been removed from the register and cannot apply to be reinstated before February, 2021.