Torquay Grammar teacher drank vodka and fell asleep in class

The incident took place at Torquay Boys' Grammar School

A newly-qualified teacher who fell asleep in a classroom after drinking vodka has avoided a teaching ban after a panel found it was a "one-off".

A Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) panel heard Luchia Ellis had been teaching at Torquay Boys' Grammar School for two months when she brought vodka into school.

Miss Ellis admitted unacceptable professional conduct.

In a statement she said: "I do not deny that I was wrong.

"(It) is something I have been unable to forgive myself for to this day."

In the statement presented to the TRA panel she said: "I fully accept responsibility for my disgraceful, shameful and careless behaviour."

Her conduct resulted in the safety and welfare of the students under her care being endangered, a TRA professional conduct panel said.

It had considered evidence, accepted by Miss Ellis, that she brought two bottles of vodka into school, drank some, and fell asleep in her classroom during teaching hours in November 2021.

Bosses investigated the incident and after a disciplinary hearing she was sacked from the school where she had taught technology from September to December 2021.

Miss Ellis accepted that she brought two vodka bottles into the school, and that although the bottles were empty when discovered, at least one had contained alcohol on arrival, panel documents said.

She also agreed that during lunchtime, she had drunk from one of the bottles before "falling asleep in her classroom during period four".

The papers said: "She agreed that this was unprofessional."

Miss Ellis accepted it had been a "risk to students" and affected her "duties of supervising and engaging with students".

The panel, which met in private and in the absence of Miss Ellis, found her conduct amounted to both unacceptable professional conduct and conduct that may bring the profession into disrepute.

'Not thinking straight'

However, it said "Miss Ellis was not thinking straight at the time of her conduct" and therefore could not conclude "that her decision to take alcohol was deliberate".

It said it had been a "one-off incident" and there was no evidence she had repeated the behaviour prior to the date of the allegation.

It noted her "previous good history", "genuine level of remorse and insight" and "passion for teaching", citing her potential to be a "role model for students in the future".

It found a ban would not be appropriate in her case.

John Knowles, decision maker on behalf of the Secretary of State, said publication of the findings would send an "appropriate message to the teacher as to the standards of behaviour that were not acceptable".

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