Court approves cancelling teacher’s registration over false document

The High Court has approved the cancellation of a teacher’s registration after she provided false information in relation to her qualifications.

The teacher created a false document purporting to be a certificate of her teaching qualification and submitted it to the Teaching Council in 2020. The court ordered that she could not be named after a report on her medical condition was provided.

The court heard a complaint was made to the Teaching Council in 2021 and an investigation began.

A disciplinary inquiry, at which the teacher was legally represented, found her actions amounted to professional misconduct and breached certain provisions of the teaching code.

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It recommended her name be removed from the teaching register and that she be ineligible to apply again for two years.

At the inquiry, the teacher, through her solicitors, admitted the underlying facts and that they amounted to professional misconduct.

The Teaching Council on Friday asked the president of the High Court, Mr Justice David Barniville, to confirm the inquiry panel’s finding.

The teacher did not appear in court and her solicitors said they had no instructions from her in relation to the case, the judge said.

The judge said the inquiry panel was satisfied the conduct found proven was fundamentally incompatible with a professional teacher. It said the level of dishonesty demonstrated by the teacher was at an early stage of her career.

There was a level of regret and remorse and insight into what she had done but the panel noted her initial response to the complaints fell short of a level of insight, the judge said.

Trust, honesty and integrity were cornerstones of the profession and the ability of regulators to rely on information supplied was fundamental to that integrity, he said. Regulators could not operate if they could not trust that the information was true and not falsified, he said.

He found the decision of the inquiry panel to be entirely reasonable and confirmed the decision. He also agreed it was appropriate that the Teaching Council would be free to communicate its decision to a number of bodies in the UK.