A disgraced former London teacher who stole $800,000 from high school athletics has officially lost his right to teach in Ontario.

The Ontario College of Teachers found Wes McConnell guilty of professional misconduct and revoked his teaching certificate.

McConnell wasn’t at the hearing, but was represented by a lawyer.

The hearing essentially brings to an end the saga of a decade-long fraud that threw high school sports into disarray after McConnell, co-ordinator of the Thames Valley Region Athletic Association — the one-time governing body for high school sports in London, Middlesex, Oxford and Elgin counties — admitted to siphoning off $800,000 over 10 years from taxpayer-funded bank accounts he controlled.

He used the money for a gambling addiction and additions to the Westmount home he has since sold.

The home had become a focal point of the trial because McConnell admitted he spent about $110,000 on a backyard pool and lavish landscaping. He also used the taxpayer money to fuel a compulsive gambling addiction where he said he spent sometimes $400 a day on lottery tickets, hoping to win big.

While McConnell was dipping into the bank accounts for his benefit, high school athletic programs for students, coaches, teachers and parents were cut to make up the shortfalls.

Following his fraud conviction in 2011, a judge sentenced him to three years in prison for his crime and ordered him to repay $771,493.63.

He’s paid back at least $186,300 and the Thames Valley District school board has also received $500,000 from insurance to cover the fraud.

McConnell, who earned his teaching degree in 1984, no longer works for the public board.

kelly.pedro@sunmedia.ca

twitter.com/KellyatLFPress

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Where the money went