Drink driving Corby assistant headteacher banned from profession
A former assistant principal of Corby Business Academy has been barred from teaching after she was convicted of drink driving and deliberately failed to tell the school.
Charlotte Gavin worked at the school in Priors Hall for nearly five years between January 2019 and December 2023.
But in July 2022 she was arrested for drink driving, appearing at Northampton Magistrates’ Court in September of that year for sentence. She was found to have 59 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath – the legal limit is 35.
She failed to tell Corby Business Academy about her arrest and conviction.
Ms Gavin was also accused of bringing an open bottle of wine into school in October 2023, which she denied.
A Teaching Regulation Agency Panel heard that Ms Gavin, of Raunds, resigned from CBA in December of that year, and applied for a job at Abbeyfield School in Northampton.
But on December 2023 she was found drunk in charge of a vehicle at Rushden Lakes after a visit to the cinema. On January 15, 2024, she appeared at court for sentence. She had 112 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath.
The panel heard that Ms Gavin had applied for the job at Abbeyfield School on November 14, 2023, and declared her first conviction to the school. She was given the job pending further checks.
But the school was then informed in January about her second arrest, so withdrew its offer of employment and informed the TRA.
In a statement sent to the TRA hearing, which Ms Gavin did not attend, she denied that nobody at Corby Business Academy had known about her conviction. She said: “It has been suggested that nobody knew of my conviction in the academy. This is incorrect. A screenshot of my conviction from the newspaper was leaked to members of staff.”
She also went on to say: “I adore my role in the classroom and I am deeply regretful that I did not disclose this at the time.”
A representative of CBA, whose name was redacted in the TRA judgement, said: “No one in the academy or the trust has any knowledge of this offence.”
The panel found this allegation proven.
Ms Gavin admitted that she had brought a bottle of wine into school, but said that it was unopened, in her bag, in her office.
A witness told the panel that they saw the bottle poking out of her bag but could not say whether it was open or unopened.
The panel did not find that allegation was proven.
Ms Gavin confirmed she had not informed Abbeyfield School of her second conviction, but denied the allegation, stating that she was not going to take the job and was going to start a ‘new life’.
The school only found out about the second conviction when it was published in a press release by Northamptonshire Police, printed in the Northants Telegraph, and an extract was sent to the school.
The TRA panel said that allegation was not proven because Ms Gavin had not yet begun her official employment with the school when she was arrested, and had not been convicted until after the school had been informed of the charge.
The panel also found that Ms Gavin had been dishonest, and lacked integrity with regard to the first conviction and her subsequent failure to inform the school.
However, the panel didn’t find that the teacher was guilty of unacceptable professional misconduct.
A ruling by the TRA’s David Oatley stated: “The panel found that this conduct did not affect the way in which Ms Gavin carried out her teaching role, nor did it expose pupils to, or influence pupils by, that behaviour in a harmful way.
“The panel considered the dishonesty and lack of integrity to be of a serious nature but did not find that it fell significantly short of the standards expected of the profession. The panel also noted that Ms Gavin expressed regret and remorse for her failure to disclose her arrest and conviction to the academy and further considered Ms Gavin’s account of her difficult personal circumstances at the time.
“The panel did not find Ms Gavin not sharing the information of her arrest or upcoming hearing with the school as misconduct of a serious nature.”
The TRA found both of her convictions would affect public confidence in the teaching profession if she was allowed to continue teaching.
An immediate prohibition order was imposed on Ms Gavin, meaning she will never be allowed to teach again. She may be given leave to apply for the decision to be reconsidered after two years.