THE FATHER of a former pupil who married and had two children with her RE teacher has revealed he found out about their relationship through “tittle tattle”.
Donald Reid said today that he suspected his daughter Megan was romantically involved with Gavin Dunsmuir after finding an inappropriate card and only found out the truth through a “fourth party”.
Dunsmuir, 50, is currently being investigated by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with the now 25-year-old.
It is claimed he became close with Reid while he was working at Largs Academy in North Ayrshire in 2015 where she was a pupil.
Despite their 26 year age gap, Dunsmuir left his wife and began living with Reid before the pair got married last year and went on to have two children together.
Now, the GTCS are looking into the couple’s relationship to decide whether to remove Dunsmuir from the teaching register.
Giving evidence in a signed statement, the former Largs Academy pupil’s 62-year-old dad said: “I would like to make it clear that I only found out via a fourth party as when I looked at the computer I couldn’t see anything that would be a cause for concern.
“I saw two cards in her room, one was a birthday card and one was for leaving school.
“She had gotten cards from other teachers which were appropriate, the one which was not appropriate was from Mr Dunsmuir.
“He had referred to her as Meg Mog [in the card].”
Reid told the GTCS that he had not been informed that his daughter had been interviewed by school chiefs at Largs Academy in 2015 over her relationship with the teacher.
He said: “I telephoned Heather Burns [Largs Academy headteacher] and made my feelings clear, she confirmed that the teacher under investigation was allegedly involved with Megan.
“She said the reason I had not been informed was because Megan was over 16, I felt that I was and still am Megan’s father and to find out via tittle tattle I thought was poor.
“I recall from the statement it said that Megan had gone for a meal with Mr Dunsmuir, I remember thinking why is he taking time out to come up to Largs and see Megan.
“I thought that I was close to my daughter but the way that she was reacting to me when I asked her about her statement suggested otherwise.
“When people ask about my daughter I struggle not to tell them that she ran off with her teacher.”
After confronting his daughter about the relationship, Reid said he was told to “f**k off” by her.
He added: “I was offered and accepted a copy of Megan’s statement, I have always brought my children up to tell the truth, I recall there was one question which asked if Megan had ever been alone with Mr Dunsmuir and she said no.
“Megan accused me of treating her like someone in work – this happened at 9:45pm, she told me to f**k off four times in a row and exited via the window as I had taken her house keys.”
Dunsmuir was allegedly spotted visiting a pub with the then schoolgirl and other young people between March and August 2015.
He has also been accused of taking Reid to a colleague’s house and letting her spend time with his daughter while she was a pupil.
The GTCS are considering whether Dunsmuir is fit to continue his profession as a teacher.
Pauline Hughes, former principal teacher at Largs Academy, yesterday (WED) gave evidence, saying: “I recall that the viewing panel of the door had been covered up with a flag.
“It had been pinned over the glass. I entered the room and it was very clear I had interrupted them.
“They were sitting across the table with their heads going into one another.
“I was in a bit of shock or denial.
“I just didn’t want to think anything untoward was happening – I was wrong, I should have been proactive and got the wee girl out of there.”
The hearing continues.
