By Cara Sulieman
A BOOZY teacher has been struck off after turning up for work reeking of alcohol on three separate occasions.
Mary Gray had been given three months to prove she was able to bring her drink problem under control, but today education bosses decided she hadn’t made enough progress.
Ms Gray worked at Morgan Academy in Dundee when the alarm was raised after she arrived at the school smelling of booze in 2007 and 2008.
The art teacher – from Dundee – has now gone into counselling for alcohol dependency after the incidents on February 20 and March 21 2007, and March 13 2008.
But today the Disciplinary Sub-Committee of the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) decided that she hadn’t done enough to fight her addiction and removed her from the teaching register.
“Still a problem”
Paul Marshall, the lawyer representing the GTCS, told the panel that he had received a letter from the Tayside Council on Alcohol who are treating Ms Gray.
He said: “The report from TCA makes clear that she has not taken the opportunity to properly address her problems.
“It makes it clear that alcohol is still a problem for her.
“If there was clear evidence that she was actively engaging then it would be different, but there is no evidence of this.”
Ms Gray’s lawyer, Alastair Milne, asked the panel to give her a second chance and wait another six months before making a decision on her future.
He told the committee: “I believe it would be more useful from her standpoint to be managed where she had the registration to loose if she didn’t make progress.
“She will not seek a teaching position until she has the GTC’s agreement to do so.
“She’s not going to seek to teach for a period of six months while she undergoes counselling.”
But the panel – led by Convener Carole Ford – decided they had no choice but to remove Ms Gray from the teaching register.
Delivering her verdict, Ms Ford said: “The reason for the deferral until today was to enable the respondent to demonstrate her cooperation with the counselling process, which she has failed to do.
“The sub-committee had the benefit of a report from the TCA agency which indicated that the respondent is not actively addressing the issue nor consciously attempting to make the lifestyle changed necessary to achieve her goal of alcohol reduction.”
Ms Gray was not present at the hearing.
