Romance costs teacher $23,000

A teacher who married a former student upon his release from prison has been ordered to pay more than $23,000.

The 37-year-old former teacher at a youth justice residence was struck off the teachers register in August for her relationship with her now-husband, who was 16 at the time.

On Monday, she was ordered to pay $23,416 in costs to the New Zealand Teachers’ Disciplinary Tribunal.

The woman, a beneficiary who got $280 a week, unsuccessfully argued the sum was unreasonable and unaffordable.

The tribunal’s August findings said the teacher breached professional boundaries during the student’s imprisonment, and alleged she and the student’s family lied about when the relationship began.

A rare and unusual decision, the tribunal accepted the relationship did not become intimate until after both had left the residence’s school, but deregistered the teacher regardless.

The couple’s names and the location of the youth justice residence where they met have been suppressed.

The woman taught her husband in 2010 when he was remanded to a youth justice residence as a 16-year-old, but had known his family since he was a child.

She continued to support him as a family friend when he was transferred to prison in 2011, until his release in September 2013.

In December 2015, the woman, the student, and the student’s mother claimed the relationship only became intimate in July that year. They married a month later.

In its recent decision, the tribunal said the teacher’s ‘‘complete lack of cooperation’’ throughout the investigation necessitated more than $39,000 in expert witness and legal expenses.

The teacher contested an order to pay half the $46,832 costs, saying she and her husband ‘‘have no money spare’’.

The tribunal said the teacher did not demonstrate financial hardship that would justify a reduction in the costs.

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