Teacher denies sleeping with pupil after prom

A SIXTH-YEAR student returned to his hotel room on prom night to find one of his teachers in bed with a fellow pupil, a disciplinary tribunal has been told.

Isabelle Graham, a former teacher at Whitburn Academy in West Lothian, is accused of sleeping with a 17-year-old pupil in an Edinburgh Travelodge after the event at a hotel in June 2014.

The General Teaching Council for Scotland hearing was shown a photograph of the room with Mrs Graham apparently in bed and the pupil near the door.

Mrs Graham denies the charges and claims to have no recollection of events after 10.30pm, having drunk four glasses of wine.

The GTCS accuses Mrs Graham of going with the boy from an upmarket hotel where the prom took place to a nearby Travelodge.

She is alleged to have spent three hours alone with the teenager, drinking with him, sharing a bed with him and “repeatedly engaged in sexual activity”.

Fraser Thomson, a council employee who investigated the case, said that teaching staff were made aware that “a photograph had been uploaded on social media”.

“The pupil standing in the door is Pupil A. You can see what appears to be a lady in the bed. The colour of the picture showed the lady with long blonde hair,” he said.

The photo was taken by another pupil who was meant to be sharing with Pupil A.

In a statement read to the hearing, Mrs Graham claimed she had no recollection of the events. She added that if the photo was of her, it was “posed” without her consent. She added: “The person in the bed in the photo is clearly not in control of the situation.”

The hearing continues.