French mistress barred over ‘sex with boy in hotel’
A DEVOUT Christian teacher was banned from the classroom yesterday over claims she slept with a 17-yearold boy on school prom night.
Isabelle Graham, 28, allegedly “engaged in sexual activity” with the teenager after giving him alcohol and sharing a bed with him at a hotel.
The French teacher, who was engaged at the time, claimed her drinks were spiked and insisted she had no recollection of events at a Travelodge in Edinburgh.
Her husband Andrew Wilkie, who is training for the clergy, has said he is certain she is telling the truth.
But Mrs Graham, who worked at Whitburn Academy, in West Lothian, was judged unfit to teach by a General Teaching Council for Scotland panel.
Police were called in after a picture posted on social media in June 2014 showed a blonde woman in bed and a boy standing by the door with a wine bottle in his hand.
Officers charged Mrs Graham with sexual activity with a minor in her care but prosecutors decided there was insufficient evidence. She was not at the Edinburgh panel hearing, where lawyer Carla Roth, presenting the case, said her actions left pupils “uncomfortable” and “shocked”.
Ms Roth added: “You have to question what sort of role model was provided.”
Detective Sergeant Keith Mailer, who investigated the incident and was called as a witness, said of CCTV footage from the hotel: “There’s no sign that Mrs Graham is under excessive influence of drugs or alcohol.”
He said CCTV also showed the teacher and student kissing and told the hearing: “The way she moved and conducted herself suggested she was making conscious decisions.”
Mrs Graham resigned over the allegations but denied all the charges.
She said that if the photo was of her, she was clearly unconscious and it was posed without her consent.
She added that, as an “active and practising Christian”, she had avoided sex before marriage.