Teacher who sat on boy’s lap and kissed him avoids classroom ban

A TEACHER who kissed a pupil after an event at a £11,000-a-year private school has been allowed to remain in the profession after a tribunal decided that the drunken encounter had not been sexual.

Rachel Clint, 33, taught geography at Merchant Taylors’ school for boys in Liverpool. She was dismissed in April last year for kissing an 18-year-old student at an event for a school leavers.

Pupils filmed Ms Clint as she sat on the boy’s lap in a busy train and kissed him. She failed to report the incident, which took place in May 2017, and was suspended when it came to light. Ms Clint was later sacked from the highranking school.

At a disciplinary tribunal Ms Clint admitted kissing the pupil and said she had “wanted to move on”.

The panel concluded that the conduct had not been sexually motivated and that the kiss had been “spontaneous” and an “isolated” incident. “It was not suggested that [her] actions were sexually motivated,” said Alan Matharu, chairman of the panel. “The evidence suggests that this was a spontaneous kiss which did not lead to further intimacy.”

Ms Clint said: “There was a brief kiss which was spontaneous and was a surprise to me.”

The hearing in Coventry was told that “there was encouragement of alcohol being consumed as it was a leavers’ event and there was a free bar tab for staff ”.

However, there had been no planning or flirtatious or premeditated behaviour to provoke such an incident, the panel said. “It was admitted by Ms Clint that she had consumed alcohol on an empty stomach at the leavers’ event, and therefore viewed this incident as a result of an error of judgment on her part,” the panel said before giving its ruling.

“A kiss between a teacher and a student on a busy train, in close proximity to other students, who proceeded to film the incident, in the panel’s view, would have a negative impact on Ms Clint’s status as a teacher.

“It could damage the public’s perception of her and therefore bring the profession into disrepute.”

However, the panel said Ms Clint had been dealing with personal problems at the time of the incident and had an otherwise unblemished record in a 10-year career and was an excellent role model for pupils.

The panel ruled that given that the encounter had been an “isolated incident” it was not necessary to ban Ms Clint from the classroom.

‘A kiss between a teacher and a student on a busy train ... could bring the profession into disrepute’