A primary school teacher has been removed from the teaching register after defrauding three of her colleagues out of more than €2,000 in what was described as “an elaborate hoax” and failing to repay a €1,000 loan provided by her school’s board of management, reports Breaking News.
A Teaching Council inquiry panel also ruled that the teacher cannot seek reinstatement to the register for at least five years, following a sanction hearing held on Thursday.
The teacher, who is in her early 30s and cannot be identified by order of the three-member panel, was absent from the fitness-to-teach inquiry and had no legal representation, reports Breaking News.
She was found guilty of professional misconduct and of breaching the Teachers’ Code of Professional Conduct in four out of five allegations presented.
Chairperson Paul Moroney stated that the panel concluded the findings were “fundamentally incompatible” with the teacher remaining on the professional register, reports Breaking News.
Mr Moroney described the level of deceit used against her three colleagues as “disgraceful and dishonourable,” involving manipulation to obtain large sums of money, including for Christmas gifts for their children.
He also noted that she had shown no indication of understanding the seriousness of her actions, reports Breaking News.
“There remains a disturbing absence of any empathy for her victims or any understanding of the nature and extent of her wrongdoing,” he added.
Evidence showed the teacher dishonestly secured €375 and €545 through Revolut from two special needs assistants at her school in the east of Ireland in October 2021, reports Breaking News.
These payments were in exchange for Apple products at a discount, which were never delivered.
It was also found she deceived another teacher at the school into giving her €1,102 in September 2021 under similar false pretences, reports Breaking News.
The inquiry also found she failed to repay a loan of around €1,000, which had been granted by the board of management as an advance on her salary in September 2021, despite repeated requests for repayment.
A further allegation—regarding the teacher driving off from an Applegreen petrol station on the M1 on September 22, 2021, without paying for €15 worth of fuel—was found to be true, though the panel determined it did not amount to professional misconduct or a breach of teaching standards, reports Breaking News.
The findings were based on testimonies from school staff and Garda evidence from related criminal proceedings, which resulted in the teacher receiving the Probation Act and avoiding a formal conviction.
Mr Moroney characterised the teacher’s scheme as “elaborate and carefully planned,” reports Breaking News.
He explained she maintained the deception with seemingly genuine explanations for delivery delays that were, in fact, “entirely untrue.”
“The nature and extent of the deviousness was a fundamental betrayal of the trust that normally exists between teachers and their colleagues,” said Mr Moroney, reports Breaking News.
He said her failure to repay the school loan deprived students of resources and that the dishonesty involved was “elaborate and persistent.”
Mr Moroney said the panel’s goal was to impose a sanction that balanced fairness with the need to protect the public and preserve trust in the teaching profession, reports Breaking News.
However, he emphasised that the hoax’s complexity, including fake documents, price lists, and references to couriers and delivery dates, was “disturbing.”
He said the teacher’s behaviour showed “a complete lack of empathy for her victims and their families” and a failure to acknowledge the impact of taking funds meant for students, reports Breaking News.
The panel acknowledged that the money taken from colleagues was repaid by the time she appeared in court in September 2022, after which she resigned from her teaching position.
Nonetheless, she has only reimbursed €50 of the debt owed to the board of management, reports Breaking News.
James Roche, solicitor for the Teaching Council, informed the panel that the teacher agreed to allow the sanction hearing to go ahead in her absence because she was attending a wedding abroad.
Mr Roche noted that while the offences were serious, they did not represent the “extreme upper end” of misconduct, reports Breaking News.
The inquiry was told that the teacher had built up €82,000 in debt and said she had been free from gambling for two years and had not faced further issues since.
In her written submissions to the Teaching Council, the teacher asked for another opportunity from the profession, noting that the judge in her case had extended leniency, reports Breaking News.
She wrote: “Numerous gambling addicts in the country get a second chance and I believe I deserve one.”
The teacher also asked the panel to consider her personal challenges, including both of her parents’ illnesses and her father’s death in 2020.
She mentioned additional losses, including the deaths of two family members in road incidents and a break-in at her home by two individuals later found to be convicted murderers, reports Breaking News.
Although the teacher expressed a desire to continue teaching, she acknowledged that returning to the classroom might not be possible.
She said she had genuinely intended to supply the promised items but had “dug a hole” because of her gambling habit.
A letter from her counsellor to the Teaching Council described gambling as her way of coping with repeated personal losses and argued it would be “appalling” for her to lose her teaching role due to a mental health issue, reports Breaking News.
However, Mr Moroney pointed out that no independent medical report or expert testimony was submitted to support claims of health concerns that might have affected her conduct or justified a reduced sanction.
He observed that, in all her communications with the Teaching Council over several years, she had only briefly mentioned feelings of shame or offered apologies, reports Breaking News.
Mr Moroney said the panel could not determine when, if ever, she might be eligible for reinstatement but concluded she should not be permitted to reapply for at least five years.
The High Court will need to confirm the decision before it officially takes effect, reports Breaking News.
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