Manchester teacher banned over £50,000 insurance claim conviction

Dipti Patel took up the position as head of PE at Manchester Academy in December 2018

A PE teacher has been banned from the profession after hiding a court case about an "entirely fraudulent" £50,000 insurance claim from her school.

A disciplinary panel heard 37-year-old Dipti Patel, who taught at Moss Side's Manchester Academy, made the claim after a "contrived burglary".

It heard she admitted exaggerating the claim at St Albans Crown Court but only told the school after her guilty plea.

The Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) banned her from teaching for two years.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said Patel admitted dishonestly making false representation in September 2020 and was handed a nine-month suspended sentence.

It said she disclosed her guilty plea to the school soon after, but had taken leave for the court hearing, telling her bosses that she was taking her child to a medical appointment.

'Genuine regret'

A TRA panel heard she failed to notify the academy after she was interviewed under police caution in October 2019 and appeared at a magistrates court in August 2020.

She had also failed to disclose that she was facing criminal charges when she signed annual safeguarding documentation, it was told.

Ruling against her, the panel said Patel's "dishonest actions were planned and happened on multiple occasions".

It said her "culpability was further amplified by her persistent dishonesty in concealing this information from the academy until the last possible moment".

It said she had "demonstrated genuine regret and remorse" and "still had much to offer the teaching profession", but found that "could not sufficiently diminish the seriousness of the dishonesty element".

Manchester Academy said as soon as it was made aware of Patel's conviction, she "was suspended and now no longer works at the school".