TEACHER DENIES HAVING SEX WITH PUPIL ROMP PROBE MISS: MY WINE WAS SPIKED

A Paisley PE teacher who faces being struck off the teaching register for allegedly having sex with a pupil has claimed her drink was spiked.

Melissa Tweedie said her drink was spiked when she turned up at the Premier Inn to check if the school kids were taking drugs.

Miss Tweedie faces being banned from teaching after ending up in bed with the 18-year-old pupil following the prom at Glasgow’s SWG3.

The 27-year-old, who now works as a yoga teacher in Dubai, is also alleged to have danced inappropriately at the club with pupils from Gleniffer High School.

A General Teaching Council of Scotland (GTCS) panel on Wednesday heard a statement Tweedie gave to bosses at the time of the incident in 2017.

It read: “I saw what appeared to be a bag of cocaine waved in my face. It was highly alarming and that’s why I didn’t go home with my flatmate.

“I should have walked back to tell the other staff and I should have called the police.

“Pupils were saying, ‘Miss, come upstairs for a drink, it’ll only be one.’

“I was given one glass of Echo Falls white wine by a girl. The next part that is clear is jolting up in the bed. I can’t see any face in my memory but I woke up and said, ‘What are you doing here?’”

At the hearing, teaching colleagues claimed Tweedie was “shimmying up and down” to an 18-year-old pupil at the prom before allegedly being found in bed with him at a nearby Premier Inn.

Susan Bell, an education manager with Renfrewshire Council, investigated the claims at the time of the incident and said Tweedie told her she went to the hotel after being alarmed over reports that a pupil allegedly had cocaine.

She told the hearing: “[Miss Tweedie] had come to the conclusion her drink had been spiked and she would not have engaged in sexual intercourse as it was her time of the month.”

She added: “I do believe she was very remorseful and she was upset.

“It’s a horrible position for anyone to find themselves in.

“I do believe she regretted what happened. But she didn’t feel she had been inappropriate at the prom.

“Others didn’t agree, but my understanding was that she felt she had been behaving appropriately.

“When she mentioned the drugs, it was totally out of left field - nobody else had mentioned that.

“I thought it sounded ludicrous, but I had to consider all the facts and that’s what I was doing.

“She was upset and embarrassed, but denied having sex. It was a matter of fact denial and it was an adamant denial.”

Former headteacher David Nicholls had told the hearing he got a call at about 2am on prom night from an “alarmed” pupil who said Tweedie was in the hotel with a pupil.

He drove to the Premier Inn to track down Ms Tweedie, but wasn’t allowed past the foyer.

He said he finally managed to reach her by phone and she told him she was at home.

However, Mr Nicholls added that on the next day a pupil said he had slept with the teacher.

The pupil, known only as Pupil A, gave evidence earlier this week and said: “I didn’t invite Miss Tweedie to the hotel. I don’t know how she got there.”

Referring to the pair going to his room, the pupil said: “Me and Miss Tweedie were the only two left in the room. We kissed, no one initiated it. We went downstairs and had sex in my room. She stayed the night and we both left at eight.

“I feel really sorry for Miss Tweedie. I had already handed in my leavers’ form. In my eyes, it wasn’t a student event.”

A pupil who was at the prom and also stayed at the Premier Inn said he saw Ms Tweedie at the hotel and felt “it can’t be right” she was there with pupils.

Pupil B said: “A number of us were talking about how risky it was for Miss Tweedie to be in a room with pupils - the fact she was in the hotel and there was no other teacher present.

“I knew Mr Nicholls quite well from playing football, so it could have been myself that called him.”

The pupil was asked if he had seen any evidence of drugs at any point during the evening. He said: “No, none at all.”

Police Scotland was alerted to the incident, but found no criminality had taken place. The hearing continues.