Scots teacher facing sack for alleged Travelodge sex with pupil “passed notes” with schoolgirl

A SCOTS teacher facing the sack for an alleged 18-month affair with a pupil “passed notes” with the schoolgirl which were later discovered by a colleague, it is claimed.

Dr Iain David Bryant taught chemistry at Levenmouth Academy in Leven, Fife when he is claimed to have struck up a relationship with the student – referred to as Pupil A – in October 2017.

The 55-year-old currently faces being struck off the teaching register in an ongoing five day hearing in front of the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).

The teacher, known as David to friends and colleagues, allegedly kissed the student – who was under 18 at the time – after she came to him when she was having a hard time in school.

This allegedly then developed into a relationship between the pair which resulted in Bryant meeting with the girl several times a week, and engaging in sexual activity once she was over 18.

The slew of allegations Bryant faces include kissing and touching the girl in a school laboratory and gifting her a mobile phone and establishing a code word for the pair to communicate through.

Bryant – who now works as a celebrant – then allegedly met with the student in a nearby Travelodge after she turned 18, where it is claimed that the two had sex.

According to the pupil, this followed a series of secretive meet-ups in desolate car parks and garages where they would engage in oral sex and foreplay.

The GTCS heard further evidence from Levenmouth Academy headteacher Ronnie Ross, who claimed he discovered hidden notes that were passed between the pair following Bryant’s suspension in 2019.

Mr Ross also claims that he found a series of “trinkets and a soft toy” that were exchanged as gifts between Bryant and the girl.

Giving evidence yesterday, Mr Ross said: “There were trinkets, a small soft toy and I saw some messages that were kept next to the items, it was a large cupboard behind the learning wall.

“We [Ms McMahon and I] were setting work for another class, it was innocuous to get the books or textbooks and some of these things that the girl had spoken to Ms McMahon about were there.”

Presenting Officer for the GTCS Lauren Doherty asked the headteacher whether the notes revealed much about the alleged relationship.

However Mr Ross refuted the claim and told the three person panel how the notes were “superficial”.

He said: “The notes were just correspondence between the pupil and the member of staff that were private, nothing that was shocking but the fact that there were little notes and Pupil A had told a teacher that when they got the gifts and when they were exchanged.

“There was love and kisses, no suggestion of sexual intercourse, it was more superficial things that were said. You thought ‘My goodness they shouldn’t have done that’.”

The panel also heard from Dean Hendry, Levenmouth’s principal teacher of history and modern studies, who told of how he became aware of a rumour of romance between the pair following a school trip.

Mr Hendry yesterday said: “It was a higher modern studies trip to the parliament building in Edinburgh, it was in relation to gossip they had heard on the day of the modern studies trip to the Scottish Parliament.

“[They told me] at the end of the school day around 4pm when they returned from the school trip..

“[Teachers] Steve Davies and Laura Barrowman were having lunch and the pupils were having lunch and what they said was pupils behind them [were] talking about teachers they fancied and at one point they overheard a pupil had a relationship with a teacher at Buckhaven

“They were earwigging, listening into conversations they weren’t really meant to be a part of.

“I can’t confirm if that was the word used, relationship or affair, but it was along those lines.”

The social sciences teacher claimed that he couldn’t report the allegations as he wouldn’t have known who he was reporting.

He told the GTCS how the affair came to light six months later when staff were finally told of the allegations against Dave Bryant.

He said: “I think it must have been at least six months after Dave had been suspended, staff weren’t told initially and rightly so, people began to chat and say he had been suspended for an alleged relationship with a pupil.”

Pupil A told on Monday of the extreme measures Bryant took to keep their romps secret from his wife – going as far as buying a burner phone and using a family member’s home to meet up with her.

The now-23-year-old told the GTCS: “A month after [we first kissed] he bought a pay as you go phone so we could talk over the Christmas break.

“At the beginning it was just me confiding in him, after the kiss it went from there, he would pick me up from school and we would drive about and chat.”

“It was mostly mutual, I wouldn’t put it all on him, we didn’t sleep together until March of 2018 when I had turned 18 years old.

“From the beginning he would tell his wife he had things on so we could meet, when we met up it was always in secret and in the car.

“He had keys to a second house, I think it was his wife’s cousin’s home so we started meeting there.”

The illicit affair saw the pair kissing and touching in a science lab in Levenmouth Academy as well as meeting for romps in cars outside East Fife FC’s Bayview stadium.

Pupil A also revealed that the pair began a full sexual relationship at a Travelodge in Glenrothes, Fife after she had turned 18.

Pupil A said: “There was a lot more oral sex and foreplay leading up to when we slept together.

“I had never had a relationship like that before so it was all very new to me and I was hesitant to begin with.

“There’s a local football ground at Bayview and there is rubble ground which is used as a car park so we would use that a lot.

“[We had sex] in the local travelodge in Glenrothes.

“I think it was chosen as it was more accommodating than a car seat and the local Travelodge is only a five minute drive for me but far enough away from where he stays that he wouldn’t be caught.”

The hearing continues.