Guilty, woman teacher who kissed pupil, 17, in nightclub
She weeps at verdict... but begs panel to let her keep her job
A PHYSICS teacher begged to keep her job yesterday after being found guilty of kissing a pupil in a nightclub.
Ashley McConnell stood accused by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) of kissing and touching a boy while employed at a school.
The former teacher at Thurso High School, who was 30 at the time, was alleged to have kissed, touched and danced with ‘Pupil A’ in Skinandi’s nightclub in the Caithness town in March 2018.
Yesterday, she broke down in tears as the fitness to teach panel decided she had kissed the 17year-old and danced with him.
Convener of the panel Arthur Stewart confirmed its decision and, in response, McConnell pleaded to be allowed to keep her registration as a teacher.
The panel will now seek to determine what action to take.
McConnell said: ‘My conduct at the time was a result of an exceptional set of circumstances and alcohol. I would ask that you consider for me to retain my GTCS registration.
‘I realised that my conduct had fallen short. I don’t drink alcohol any more. Perhaps if I hadn’t been drinking alcohol that night I wouldn’t be in the situation we are in.
‘I feel a great deal of remorse and shame. Behaviour of this nature will never be repeated. I hope you will see that my conduct at the time was in stark contrast to my typical character. The risk of repetition is non-existent.’
The panel had previously heard from McConnell, who admitted drinking ‘large amounts of alcohol’ on the night of the incident.
She said: ‘My recollection of the evening was not clear. I don’t remember dancing with him but that isn’t to say I didn’t dance with him. I have blacked out and not remembered the evening. I don’t have an explanation.
‘It is just the effect of drinking large amounts of alcohol.’
McConnell had been with others at a fellow Thurso High teacher’s house for a takeaway, before the group left and visited bars in the town prior to her going to the nightclub.
Teacher Angela Sutherland told the panel earlier this week she did not know how McConnell was still standing after the amount of alcohol she had consumed.
Miss Sutherland said: ‘When I left her, she was really drunk, hardly stringing two words together drunk. She was slurring her words. I don’t think she was in control of her faculties, she wasn’t drinking rationally.’
Miss Sutherland also said McConnell was a ‘dedicated teacher’ who always had the interests of her pupils at heart.
A friend and fellow teacher, Leslie-Anne Wooles, told the tribunal that McConnell was ‘a pleasure to work with’.
The hearing continues.
‘Really drunk, slurring her words’