Lancashire teacher who drank alcohol in school is banned

The teacher's conduct "fell significantly short of the standards expected", a panel found

A teacher who took a pupil's clothing to wear herself and drank alcohol on school premises from a coffee cup has been banned from the profession.

Michela Hall worked at Lincoln House School in Burnley, Lancashire, from May to September 2019.

A disciplinary panel heard Ms Hall, a teacher for over 20 years, was intoxicated and acted inappropriately.

The Teaching Regulation Authority found Ms Hall's conduct "fell significantly short of the standards expected".

The panel heard Ms Hall locked herself in a room with the pupil before pulling at their clothing and was later seen "strolling around with them on".

It was deemed by the panel to be a failure to respect appropriate boundaries with the pupil.

Empty wine bottles

A witness told the panel when she attended school on 3 July 2019 she saw Ms Hall drinking from a Gregg's coffee cup.

The witness said that it smelled like alcohol and although the teacher denied it, she could smell alcohol on Ms Hall.

The panel was also provided with copies of photographs taken by the witness of the coffee cup and empty wine bottles and found the cup "showed the remains of red liquid".

The school formed part of Lincoln House, which was a care home for children who had been victims and perpetrators of sexual offences.

In July of that year, Ms Hall called the witness "several times" after 19:15 BST and was still on the school premises.

A second witness told the panel they were "surprised" to see Ms Hall's car in the car park later on.

They told the panel they saw Ms Hall get on a pupil's bike but was "too unsteady to ride it".

Ms Hall said it had been "one stupid mistake" and apologised at the time.

The panel concluded by recommending a teaching ban, with a review period after two years.